THE TOWN CHURCH 

OF 

MANCHESTER 



rHOMAS CHALMERS 



.ESEKVESlOlt^G^ 




Class. 



Book_- 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



I 




CO ^ 

X S 

O " 

Q -2 



X c 

51 

O 1 



THE 



Town Church 



OF 



Manchester 



BY THOMAS CHALMERS 
// 

PASTOR OF THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 



MANCHESTER, N. H. 



MANCHESTER 

PUBLISHED BY THE JUBILEE COMMITTEE 

1903 






LIBRARY of COIVGRESS 
Two CoDies Received 

MAY 26 1904 

C«pyrigni Entry 

'^^-Laj. 1.V- /^^3 
CLASS 0^ XXo. No. 

^ Z U I 

COPY A 



COPYRIGHT, 1903 
BY THOMAS CHALMERS 



Press of 

The John B. Clarke Comininy 

3fanr})ester I\\ H. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Part I. The Approach 7 

I. The Struggle for the Merrimac 9 

II. The Indian Church at Amoskeag Falls 16 

III. The Scotch-Irish at Amoskeag 20 

IV. The Tyngstown Colony 22 

Part II. The Town Church before the Disestablishment 29 

Y. The First Era 31 

YI. The Second Era 40 

YII. The Third Era 48 

Part III. After the Disestablishment 56 

YIII. The Transition 59 

IX. The Xew Organizaton 69 

X. The Congregational Church at Amoskeag 78 

Part lY. The Union, The First Congregational Church of 

Manchester 89 

XL Forty Years in the Old Church on Hanover Street 91 

XII. In the New Church on Hanover Common 124 

XIII. The Present Pastorate 128 

Program Double Diamond Jubilee 132 

Historical List of Church Officers 137 

Annual Progress of the Church 139 

Historical List of Society Officers 140 

Tabular Statement of Keceipts from Pew Eentals 149- 

Legacies and Endowment Funds 142 

Legacies to the Society 143 

Legacies to the Church 143 

Form of Bequest 143 

Index 145 



6 PREFACE. 

sides the original records of Derryfield and Tyngstown and the 
complete records of church and society back to the first meet- 
ings, a multitude of old documents — letters, subscription lists, 
and newspapers — have been put in my hands. The docu- 
mentary disadvantage under which some of the earlier local 
histories were written is responsible for many of their inaccu- 
racies. Among these local histories, however, I wish to express 
my indebtedness to Potter's "History of Manchester," the 
greatest of them all though the least accurate. I have also 
made use of Clarke's "History of Manchester" and Willey's 
"Book of Manchester." Though I am not aware of any in- 
accuracies in this book, I am painfully aware of its omissions. 
Many worthy names in the history of the church are not found 
on these pages. They adorn the pages of a Better Book. 

Thomas Chalmees. 
Manchester, N. H., May, 1903. 



PART I 



THE APPROACH, 



I. 

THE STRUGGLE FOE THE MERRIMAC. 



''The Indians tell ns of a beautiful river far to the south 
■which they call Merrimac." These words are to be found in 
■a report from Pierre du Guast, Sieur de Monts, the Huguenot 
founder of Port Eoyal, to the French Government. They were 
written in 1604 — three hundred and one years ago. The chiv- 
alrous Henry of Navarre w^as then on the French throne. Thus 
w^as this river introduced to the people of Europe. It was a 
happy introduction, calculated to kindle expectancy. These 
words are interesting because they establish the esthetic unity 
of mankind. This Merrimac, far to the south, with its pure 
water, swdft current, roaring falls, and fruitful intervales, was a 
''beautiful river" to the Indians. They clung to its banks, 
and long after they had ceased to hope to retain their lordship 
of its fields and forests, they begged the conquering race for 
permission to remain on its shores and islands. They retreated 
slowly tow^ard its source, and left it only when they had been 
reduced to a broken-hearted fragment of former days. And 
the river that was beautiful to the Indian is beautiful to the 
white man. He also has clung to it. A counter-current of 
warfare flowing from the islands of Newburyport to the shores 
of the Winnepisaukee left the river, wrenched from its former 
lords, in the hands of the white race. This was followed and 
accompanied in part by another up-current conflict for the pos- 

9 



10 TO WN CHUR CH HIS TOR V. 

session of this river between the whites themselves. This sec- 
ond struggle took the form chiefly of litigation. Its weapons 
were charters and grants, deeds and dates, seals and signatures. 
It extended over a period of more than a hundred years, and was 
the direct cause of much anxiety, suffering, and bloodshed. 
Perhaps no such struggle between different sections of the Eng- 
lish-speaking race has been fought for the possession of any 
other river in America. But the last echoes of the unfortunate 
conflict have long since died away. A winding chain of popu- 
lous cities, with immense industries, now extends along its 
banks from ISTewburyport to Concord. Haverhill, Lawrence, 
Lowell, Nashua, and Manchester are links in that chain. Here 
are the three chief cities of New Hampshire. One of them — 
Manchester — is the largest city in the northern tier of New 
England states. 

M. de Monts wrote his report in 1604. He never saw the 
river of which he was the first to write the name, for he re- 
turned to France and came to grief. But in the July of the 
following year his fellow countryman, Champlain, sailed into 
the harbor at the mouth of the Merrimac (Riviere du Gas). 
That was nearly three centuries ago — a long time in the history 
of us short-lived men. Fed by the melting snows from the 
same majestic mountains, our beautiful river has gone on its 
rushing way, plunging with much the same monotonous roar 
over the falls at Amoskeag and Pawtucket as when Passacon- 
away, the hashaba of the confederated tribes, sat musing in his 
lodge on its banks. Three hundred years have passed us on 
the wing. Events which are now ancient history, the perish- 
ing records of which we gather and preserve with a tender 
touch, with many details lost in oblivion, were then so far in 
the foreground that their form and dimensions could not be 



THE STRUGGLE EOR THE MERRIMAC. 11 

discerned. They were to be the three most pregnant centuries 
since the fall of the Roman empire. They were to be centuries 
of travail and pain, and were to end in the birth of a new 
world. The Reformation had spread over Germany, Hungary, 
Bohemia, Switzerland, the ISTetherlands, England, Scotland, 
and Scandinavia, and had become strong in France. But its 
career of conquest had closed, and a mighty opposing power 
in the new Society of Jesus had started on its resistless way to 
regain the lost territory. The next fifty years were to witness 
the bitterest, bloodiest struggle in European history, — the 
Thirty Years^ War, — and with the issue of that struggle the 
fate of the Protestant civilization on the continent of Europe 
was to hang in the balance. Gustavus, whose enlightened 
statesmanship and military achievements were to purchase the 
permanence of Protestant principles, was a Swedish ten-year- 
old boy when M. de Monts wrote his report. Oliver Cromwell, 
who was to break the back of irresponsible monarchy and to 
leave a name the mention of which would forever make pale 
the face of the tyrant, was a six-year-old boy playing on the 
banks of the Ouse. Shakespeare was still writing. "King Lear" 
was published that very year. So also was the "Advancement 
of Learning," the first of Bacon's great works, — works which 
were to signalize the birth of modern science with all its won- 
derful discoveries and achievements. Since that day we have 
come into possession of a new heaven and a new earth. Galileo 
was to construct the first telescope in the next three years. 
Kepler had not yet discovered his laws of planetary motion. 
Newton was not yet born. 

On Easter Sunday, 1605, Captain George Weymouth sailed 
from England, and after a six weeks' voyage found Cape Cod. 
He coasted northward, passed the silent, forest-bound harbor 



12 TO WN CHURCH HIS TOR Y. 

where the city of Boston was to stand, rounded Cape Ann, 
and sailed past the mouths of the Merrimac and Piseataqua. 
He sailed up the Kennebec several miles. From the mouth of 
the Penobscot where he had harbored, he seized five natives 
and set sail for home. 

After a. successful voyage, he cast anchor in the harbor of 
Plymouth, Devonshire, where Sir Ferdinando Gorges was com- 
mander of the garrison. He had visited the New England 
coast in the summer, and was charmed with its beauties and its 
commercial possibilities. His accounts were the theme of pub- 
lic interest. Three of the captive Indians — Manida, Sketwan- 
noes, and Tisquantum — were taken into the home of Sir Fer- 
dinando, and their homesick descriptions of the beautiful land 
they had left inflamed his imagination. As a direct result of 
the enthusiasm following Weymouth's return with his captive 
Indians, the Plymouth, or Korth Virginia, Company was or- 
ganized and chartered the following year. Gorges was the 
leading spirit of the enterprise. After conducting several 
voyages he succeeded in 1620 in securing a new charter. The 
Duke of Buckingham, the unpopular but all-powerful favorite 
of James I, was interested in the scheme, and a charter was 
obtained granting privileges of the wildest character. The 
company was given the liberty to exercise powers which James 
himself, with all his extreme notions of '^^divine right," dared 
not exercise in England. They were given a monopoly of 
trade within the extensive territory comprised in the grant. 
This territory reached from the latitude of Philadelphia to 
that of Newfoundland. The forty directors, or patentees, of 
this company were called the Council for New England. The 
chief motive that governed these men — Gorges, Mason, and 
others of like character — was the vision of the commercial 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE ME R RIM AC. 13 

fruits of colonization. Doubtless some thought of glory in 
laying the foundations of a future empire was also in their 
minds. But these ambitions are not the stuff that enduring 
colonies are made of. There was another class in England of 
the sterner, stronger sort. This class was m-ade up of the 
gloomier members of the Puritan party. I say "gloomier^' 
because that is what this hopeful age would call them if they 
were with 'us yet. They were men of like mind with the Rev. 
John White, Puritan rector of Trinity Church in Dorchester. 
The great conflict between Episcopalian on the one side and 
Presbyterian and Congregationalist on the other, was approach- 
ing. To the mind of John White it was to be a new struggle 
between Romanism and Protestantism. He felt by no means 
sure of the outcome. He had before him the awful experience 
of the Protestants of Rochelle and the Palatinate. I speak of 
him and his friends, therefore, as the gloomier members of 
the Puritan " party. It is well for us that they did take a 
gloomy view of the immediate future. Otherwise we should 
never have had the colony of Massachusetts Bay. It was 
organized and sent out as a sort of "bulwark against the king- 
dom of anti-Christ." 

In 1622 Gorges and Mason had secured from the Council, of 
which one was president and the other was secretary, a grant 
of land between the Kennebec (then called Sagadahoc) and the 
Merrimac rivers. This grant was to extend back between the 
courses of these rivers to "the great lakes and river of Can- 
ada."* This was six years before the hopes and prayers of 
White and his friends came to fruitage in the grant of land 
which was to become the permanent possession of the Gov- 
ernor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England. 

* Adams Anns. Portsmouth, p. 9, 



14 TOWN CHURCH HISTORY. 

This grant embraced the territory from three miles south of 
the Charles river and every part thereof, to three miles north 
of the Merrimac river and every part thereof. How such a 
grant could have been given it is hard to understand. It made 
a three-mile encroachment upon territory already granted to 
Gorges and Mason. It was obtained from the Council for 
New England. Gorges was president and Mason was secre- 
tary of that Council. They must have consented to the en- 
croachment. But what was three miles on one side or the 
other of an unknown river in an unknown wilderness ? It per- 
haps seemed like a small concession v/here an important bar- 
gain was to be consummated. The contest would hardly come 
in their day. It did not greatly affect their interests one way 
or the other. It must be fought out by the generations whose 
interests it did affect. This indifference, oversight, ignorance, 
or whatever we may call it, was the cause of a conflict that 
raged about the banks of the Merrimac and embittered the rela- 
tions of New Hampshire and Massachusetts for a hundred 
years. These grants were based on the theory that the soil 
belonged to the English crown by the right of the Cabot dis- 
covery. At this point an older principle asserted itself in a 
certain instance and increased the confusion. It was the prin- 
ciple of purchase from the original owners of the soil. In 
the spring of 1629 the Rev. John Wheelwright, the founder 
of Exeter, is alleged to have purchased from Passaconaway and 
three other Sagamores, a tract of land extending from the 
Piscataqua to the Merrimac and reaching to vague boundaries 
in the unknown interior. In the autumn of the same year, 
Mason and Gorges appear to have made an amicable division 
of their joint claim. Gorges taking a tract from the Piscataqua 
to the Kennebec in one direction, and Mason from the Pis- 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE MERRIMAC. 15 

cataqua to the Merrimac in the other. Here, then, in territory 
to be known as New Hampshire, were three conflicting claims: 
(1) That of Mason, from the Merrimac to the Piscataqua, 
obtained by grant from the Plymouth Company, and based on 
the theory that the soil belonged to the crown by the right 
of the Cabot discovery; (2) that of Massachusetts Bay, over- 
lapping the Mason claim by three miles north of the Merrimac, 
obtained from the same company and based on the same theory; 
and, (3) the Wheelwright claim, based on a supposed purchase 
from the Indian tribes. He who will understand the history 
of New Hampshire or of the Merrimac valley must keep these 
three claims perpetually in mind. It is in the justice of them, 
as well as in the sweat of his face, that the New Hampshire 
farmer still eats bread. 



11. 

THE INDIAN CHURCH AT AMOSKEAG FALLS. 



The first Christian worship ever conducted within the pres- 
ent limits of the city of Manchester was conducted in the lan- 
guage of the native Algonquins — either by John Eliot himself 
or one of the native preachers. That Eliot visited Amoskeag 
and preached on the height overlooking the falls is based on 
circumstantial evidence, but the evidence is so direct as to be 
conclusive. In the first place, if his purpose was to reach the 
Indian conscience with the gospel, there was the greatest possi- 
ble reason for a visit to Amoskeag. During the fishing sea- 
son it was the principal residence of the great chief Passa- 
conaway and a rendezvous for all the tribes that acknowledged 
him as their laslidba. We know also that Eliot planned his 
missionary tours for the fishing season. As the Indians fol- 
lowed the fish up the Merrimac in the springtime, from falls 
to falls, so he followed the Indians, for he was a fisher of men. 
We know that he was with the Indians during the fishing sea- 
son at the falls of Pawtucket (Lowell). But the number of 
Indians that gathered at Amoskeag was greater than at Paw- 
tucket, since the fishing season here did not interfere, as it did 
at Pawtucket, with the planting season. Namaoskeag,"^ the 
Indian term, was in its very meaning par excellence, the "great 

*This name has been spelled in eyeiy conceivable way : Namaoskeag, 
Namaske, Naamkeke, Nimkig, et cetera, ad infinitum. 

16 



THE INDIAN CHURCH AT AMOSKEAG FALLS. 17 

fishing place." Eliot himself speaks of it as "A great fishing 
place Namaske upon the Merrimac which belongeth to Papas- 
saconaway." 

In one of his letters he leaves ns a picturesque description of 
one of his missionary fields and of his first encounter with 
Passaconaway: 

"There is a great fishing place upon one of the falls of Merri- 
mack Eiver called Pawtucket, where is a great confluence of 
Indians every spring, and thither I have gone these two yeares 
in that season, and intend so to doe next spring (if God will). 
Such confluences are like Faires in England. . . . Whereas 
there did used to be gaming and much evill at those great meet- 
ings, now there is prayer to God and good conference, and ob- 
servation of the Sabbath by such are well minded; and no 
open prophanesse suffered as I hear of. . . . This last spring 
I did there meet old Papassaconaway who is a great Sagamore. 
. . . The last yeare he and all his sonnes fled when I came, 
pretending feare that we would kill him.." 

By the eloquence of Eliot, Passaconaway was converted and 
lived and died a devoted Christian. It was, as Eliot himself 
testified later on, "not only a present notion that soon van- 
ished, but a good while after he spake to Capt. Willard, who 
tradeth with them in those parts for Bever and Other Shins 
&c that he would be glad if I would come and live in some 
place thereabouts to teach there. . . . And if any good ground 
or place that he had would be acceptable to me, he would 
willingly let me have it." 

Passaconaway's cordial invitation to the missionary was 
effective, proof of which has been preserved in a letter of 
Eliot's in which he mentions his purpose to visit Amoskeag 
the following spring. It was to prepare for his visit that a 



1 8 TO YVN CIIUR CH HIS TOR V. 

path was cut through the woods to Amoskeag. Later on we 
find the evidences of liis having been there. Daniel Gookin, 
the Virginian who had been converted by the Rev. William 
Thompson, from what John Fiske calls ^Vorldliness or perhaps 
devilry rather than prelacy," and who had come to Massachu- 
setts and spent a chief part of his life in work among the 
Indians, tells us in his "Christian Indians" that Naamkeke was 
one of the places where the Indians met "to worship God and 
keep the Sabbath." We also learn from him that a teacher 
and school had been established there. This first church in 
this vicinity was an orthodox Congregational church of the old 
Puritan type. Exactly where its meetings were held is not 
definitely known, but it was probably on the bluff at the east 
of the falls. 

The Christian Indians have been more or less ridiculed by 
historians. Their sincerity and intelligence have been dis- 
credited. Their motives in accei^ting the white mian's God 
have been explained on the ground of their childish supersti- 
tiousness. Against the injustice of these charges, which have 
their origin in the everlasting egotism of the Caucasian, there 
is indisputable proof, not only in the sufferings for Christ's 
sake which many of these groups of praying Indians underwent, 
but in the keen spiritual discernment of the queries which 
Eliot has taken down from their lips: 

"If any talk of another man's faults and tell others of it 
when he is not present to answer. Is not this a sinne?" 

"If a man think a prayer, doth God know it and will he 
bless him?" 

"If a man be almost a good man and dyeth, whither goeth 
hissoule?" 



THE INDIAN CHURCH AT AMOSKEAG FALLS. 19 

"Since we see not God with our eyes, if a man dream that he 
seeth God, doth his sonle then see him?" 

"Why doth God make good men sick?" 

"Doe not Englishmen spoile their soules, to say a thing cost 
more than it did? and is it not all one as to steale?" 

"I see why I must feare Hell, and do so every day. But 
why must I feare God?" 

"If I reprove a man for sinne, and he answer ^Why doe you 
speak thus angrily with me: Mr. Eliot teacheth us to love one 
another,' is this well?" 

These are not the questions of hypocritical or superstitious 
men. Eliot's Indian preachers, like Simon Betogkom, whose 
voice has mingled the warnings of the law and the promises 
of the gospel with the roar of the falls at Amoskeag, were men 
of God, whose Christian spirit was, in many instances, beauti- 
ful in contrast with that of their palefaced brethren. With 
the Indians, as with the English, not every one who named the 
name of Christ' was possessed of the spirit of Christ. The 
Indian church at Amoskeag left no records. Its misty exist- 
ence was of uncertain duration. It shared the fate of the race. 



III. 

THE SCOTCH-IRISH AT AMOSKEAG. 



The Scotch-Irish immigrants, some of whom had passed 
through the awful siege of Londonderry, Ireland, in 1688-89, 
and who crossed the Atlantic with the same impulse that had 
brought the Pilgrims a century earlier, were among those who 
were confused by the conflicting boundary claims between 
Massachusetts and New Hampshire. They arrived in Boston 
August 4, 1718, and secured a grant of what, for its profusion 
of chestnut, walnut, and butternut trees, was known as Nut- 
field, about fifteen miles northwest of Haverhill, Mass. Their 
fi-rst grant was secured from the Massachusetts Bay Company. 
Later on, doubting the right of Massachusetts to the territory 
and considering the Wheelwright claim valid, they obtained a 
deed of the section from the Wheelwright heirs. The Scotch- 
Irish settlement was named Londonderry for their home in 
Ireland. Their first minister, James MacGregor, preached his 
first sermon in the new settlement underneath a large oak on 
the east side of Beaver pond. His text was from Isaiah 32:2: 
''And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a 
covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place; as 
the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." The town 
church was Presbyterian. It still exists as the First Congre- 
gational Church at East Derry. 

20 



THE SCO TCH- IRISH A T AMOSKEA G. 21 

Mr. MacGregor was the first man of the Londonderry colony 
to visit the Amoskeag Falls, and was ever afterwards entitled, 
by a regulation of the town, to the first fish caught there each 
spring. As the minister of the town he would probably have 
enjoyed this favor in those days regardless of his claim to be 
the first man of the colony who had visited the famous fishing 
place. The Scotch-Irish claimed the land clear up to the falls, 
and some of their number settled on the neighboring territory 
long before the confiicting claims were finally adjusted. These 
squatters constituted the embryo of the future town of Derry- 
field. The region was at that time known by the not very 
flattering name of Old Harry's Town. Such a neighborhood 
might be supposed to have been in need of a church if churches 
are needed anywhere. But for more than a hundred years 
organized Christianity in these parts was to be confronted by 
persistent difficulties and hindered by frequent reverses. 



IV. 

THE TYNGSTOWN COLONY. 



The first white church established in the present territory 
of Manchester was the town chnrch of what is known as Tyngs- 
town, or Tyng's Township. The experiences of these early 
settlers were sufficiently tragic to entitle them to the enduring 
sympathy of the people of this community. In the year 1703, 
when there was hardly a white settler in the Merrimac valley 
north of Dunstable, — the ancient name for Nashua, — Captain 
William Tyng raised a company of volunteers "in the winter 
season to go in quest of the Indian enemy." They made a 
difficult march on snowshoes as far as Lake Winnepisaukee, 
and brought back six Indian scalps. This was at the very 
height of Indian sa,vagery, and was wholesome punishment for 
outrages to which pioneer families had been ruthlessly sub- 
jected by the Indians. For a long period more it was unsafe 
for white men to push their settlements into the interior of 
Hew Hampshire. But in 1725, John Lovewell, of the same 
town of Dunstable, with forty-six companions, successfully 
executed the most impressive piece of military vengeance to be 
found in the annals of New England. The account of their 
experiences, though authentic to the minutest detail, is grew- 
some and awful. On the day of his departure Lovewell sent 
the following brief note to the governor, and we hear no more 

22 



THE TYNGSTOWN COLONY. 33 

of him or his company until we get the straggling reports of 
the grim battle of Peqiiaket: 

Dunstable, April ye 15, 1725. 
Sir: This is to inform you that I march from Dunstable with 
between forty or fifty men on the day abovementioned & I 
should have marched sooner if the weather had not prevented me. 
No more at present but I remain your humble seryt. 

John Lovewell. 

After several losses by sickness or other disablement, includ- 
ing Toby the Indian, William Cummins of Dunstable and Ben- 
jamin Kidder of ISTutfield, with ten others who were detailed 
to take care of them, the remaining thirty-four pressed on to 
Pequaket, the home of the tribe of Indians they were seeking, 
in the present town of Fryeburg, Me., and there in the wilder- 
ness, one hundred and twenty miles from home, cut off even 
from their own packs, in the very lair of the Indians, by 
whom they were greatly outnumbered, with their backs to 
the lake, known henceforth as LovewelFs pond, they fought 
the stubbornest bush-fight on record. At the first onset 
they lost eleven men — nine by death, among whom was their 
brave captain, two by disablement, one by cowardice and deser- 
tion. The remaining twenty-two men, posted behind trees, 
fought the battle of Pequaket, with diminishing numbers, 
from ten o'clock in the morning of May 8 until the day closed 
in darkness. Then they marched out of the bloody woods. 
They left Jacob Farrah "expiring by the pond.'' Robbins and 
Usher were not able to go with them, and waited in their 
wounds for the awful approach of morning. "Charge my gun/' 
said Robbins. "The Indians will come in the morning to scalp 
me, and I'll kill one of them if I can." Of the thirty-three 
heroes who opened the battle of Pequaket only nine came 



24 TO WN CHUR CH HIS TOR V. 

out without serious wound, and only seventeen returned to their 
homes. "Elias Barron, one of that party, strayed from the 
rest, and got over Ossipy river, by the side of which his gun 
case was found, and he has ne'r been heard of since." 

The effect of LovewelFs battle was that of a decisive victory 
over the Indians. They deserted Pequaket, withdrew to Can- 
ada, and left the interior of northern New England open to 
the English settlements. This event was quickly followed by 
a number of grants by Massachusetts in the Merrimac valley. 
These grants were made chiefly to the survivors of the wars 
against the Indians. The IsTarragansett townships, so called, 
were granted by number to the survivors and the heirs of the 
survivors of the war against the Narragansetts. Massachusetts 
was anxiously willing to make these grants to her people, as, 
under the principle that "possession is nine points of the law," 
she knew no better way to establish her claim to the whole 
Merrimac valley. Therefore, at the close of "LovewelFs War," 
townships in this region of New Hampshire were given away 
by Massachusetts with a lavish hand. New Hampshire, in 
despair of reaching a settlement with Massachusetts over the 
boundary dispute, had begun to do the same thing. In 1727 
Major Ephraim Hildreth, Capt. John Shepley, and others, 
soldiers under William Tyng in the famous "snowshoe expe- 
dition" of 1703, petitioned for and obtained from the Massa- 
chusetts legislature a grant of land "between Litchfield and 
Suncook on ye Easterly Side Merrimack River," This was 
supplemented by a smaller grant on the north side of the 
Piscataquog. The tract on the east side of the Merrimac was 
to be six miles square, "exclusive of Robert Rand's Grant and 
the three Farms pitched upon" by Hon. Samuel Thaxter, John 
Turner, and William Dudley, Esq. Thaxter, nine years later, 



THE TYNGSTOWN COLONY. 25 

sold his farm to Archibald Stark, the father of Gen. John 
Stark. Two hundred acres of land "at the Most Convenient 
place of Amoskeag Falls" was also reserved by the state. 
Among the conditions of the grant, the grantees were to set- 
tle their tract of land with sixty families within four years. 
Each family was to have a house eighteen feet square and 
"seven feet stud/' and four acres cleared and plowed and 
stocked with English grass and fitted for mowing. It was 
further required that they should lay out three lots, "one for 
the first minister, one for the ministry, and one for the school, 
and within the said Term Settle a Learned Orthodox Minister 
and Build a Convenient House for the publick Worship of 
God." The incorporators of the township lived in the vicinity 
of Dunstable, Groton, and Chelmsford, where the preliminary 
town meetings were held. The minutes of these meetings, 
written in a handsome hand, were kept by Joseph Blanchard, 
clerk. They are preserved in the office of the clerk of the 
city of Manchester. At a meeting held at the home of Benja- 
min Bancroft, in Groton, November 28, 1738, it was "voted 
that there be assessed on ye prop'rs the sum of thirty pounds 
(to be lay'd out in Preaching the Gosspel in the Said Township, 
where that the proprietors that are now Settled there shall see 
Cause to Agree upon) and Eph'm Hildreth Esq'r To take the 
care and Procure Such preaching there." A little more than 
a year later, at a town meeting held at the house of Isaac Far- 
well, innholder, of Dunstable, the following action was taken: 

Also Voted to Build a meetinghouse in Said Township of the 
Following dimentions, viz.: forty two feet Long and thirty feet 
wide, twenty feet between Joynts, and that the meeting-house 
frame be Eaised at or before the Last day of August next, And 
that the Eoof be boarded, Shingled, Weather boards put On the 



26 TO WN CHUR CH HIS TOR V. 

boarding, Bound, well Chamfered, the necessary Doors made 
and Hung, A Double floor lay'd below with all Convenient Speed 
After the sd Frame is up so that it be thus finished by the first 
of december next. And that Eleazer Tyng and Benj'a Tompson 
Esq'rs and Cap't Jonathan Bowers, or any Two of them be a 
Com'tee fully Tmpowered in behalf of this Prop'ty to Lett out 
S'd work, & in their S'd Capacity to Enter into Bonds or Articles 
of Agreement for the fullfillment & Compleating the work as 
afores'd. And the Said Com'tee Are directed to post up Noti- 
fications of the time and place of their meeting to Let out the 
S'd work, in the Several places that notifications Are posted for 
Calling Prop'rs meeting ten days before the S'd Work be let Out 
And the S'd Com'tee are further Directed in case of an Indian 
Warr to prolong the time of Building S'd House. 

The records of Tyn^stown contain an interesting account 
of the expense of the raising of the meetinghouse. The first 
two items are — 

"To Joseph Blanchard for Eum & Provisions 2 15 3 

To the Rev'd M'r Thomas Parker 2 0" 

After all our respect for the piety of the fathers^ preaching 
seems to have been a secondary matter when it came to ^^rum 
and provisions.'' Eum was an important factor in that raising, 
for it constituted both the first and the last items in the bill 
of expenses. The last item is — 

"Had of William McClinto for Eaiseing 6 g'lls of Ehum 

at 18s per G'll @ 5 8 0" 

Another item in this account is — 
"To Archebald Stark for a Salmon 9 0" 

Tyngstown never had a settled minister, though it was 
supplied with more or less preaching. We find a vote taken 
September 25, 1740, "that the treas'r be Directed to pay to 



THE TYNGSTOIVN- COLONY. 37 

M'r Benj'a Bowers, for his Preaching in Tyng's Town, Thirty- 
two Pounds of the first money that Comes into the treasury." 
At the same meeting the treasurer was ordered to pay "Mr 
Dunlap" thirteen pounds and fifteen shillings for preaching. 
When this vote was taken, the day of their discomfiture was 
at hand, for the British Government had decided the boundary 
dispute against Massachusetts in the March of this very year. 
That boundary was defined as "beginning at the Atlantic 
ocean and ending at a point due north of Pawtucket Falls and 
a straight line drawn from thence due west till it meets with 
His Majesty's other dominions." The haughty Tyngstown 
settlers, w^ho had hitherto tolerated the Scotch-Irish as tres- 
passers on their claim, now found themselves shut off in the 
enemy's country. Their township was without legal founda- 
tion, and they were driven from their claim. Individual fam- 
ilies remained, but only by the sufferance of the triumphant 
Scotch-Irish. The sufferers petitioned Massachusetts for relief, 
and April 17, 1751, they were granted the township of Wilton, 
Me. Four and one half months later, their rivals in this terri- 
tory incorporated the permanent township of Derryfield. The 
settlers of Tyngstown had been compelled to surrender a grant 
that had cost them about forty thousand dollars. They had 
wasted the best years of their lives, had cleared fields w^here 
others would reap, and built homes in which others would 
dwell. They ha,d placed their meetinghouse near the Scotch- 
Irish neighborhood with the praiseworthy hope of securing 
their support of its services. The overture was not successful. 
The two races were, as yet, too distinct to mix well. At last 
the meetinghouse was burned by a forest fire. Its location 
is still pointed out. It stood not far from the Chester corner, 
on the old AVeston farm. The graveyard is still dimly discern- 



28 TO WN CHUR CH HIS TOR Y. 

ible. So ended the first attempt by the white man to estab- 
lish an orthodox church in this region. The attempt was given 
up in 1740. The Scotch-Irish Presbyterians were not yet 
ready to merge their ecclesiastical identity with that of the 
New England Congregationalists. It was to take them just 
one hundred years to reach that pointy when the Presbyterians 
of Manchester Center and the Congregationalists of Amoskeag 
were to join destinies in settling a common pastor in their 
united church on Hanover street. The cleavage between the 
Tyngstown settlers and the Scotch-Irish immigrants^, who had 
settled the territory under the protection of New Hampshire, 
was based on dilferences in nationality, ill-defined boundaries 
between the states, and loose methods of surveying. The 
Tyngstown people carried a chip on their shoulder when they 
came on the ground. They assured Massachusetts that they 
would settle their town with "English" families, and that the 
"people claiming a right under New Hampshire," referring to 
the Scotch-Irish, "will be hindered from encroaching thereon." 
A glance into the anxieties that occupied the minds of the early 
settlers of this section of New England is furnished by the 
closing passage of a letter written on one of the fly-leaves of 
the old book in which the records of Tyng Township were kept. 
It bears the signature of William Parker and Matthew Liver- 
more: 

"But Inter Arma Silent Leges— What does it avail to Perplex 
ourselves about Profits of Land or Eights of that kind when we 
see or hear the French are Like to Come and Take all" — 



PART 11. 



TIE TOWN CHURCH BEFOEE THE DISES- 
TABLISHMENT. 



V. 
THE FIRST ERA. 



In 1751 some of the inhabitants of Londonderry, Chester, 
and what was then called Harrytown, though no such legal 
township ever existed, petitioned Gov. Benning Wentworth to 
be incorporated into the township of Derry field. Lieut. John 
Hall, who kept an inn in what we know as Manchester Center, 
was the moving spirit in this affair, as he seems to have been 
the most influential personality in the town politics for nearly 
the first fifty years of its existence. The petition was granted, 
the town was incorporated September 3, 1751, and the first 
town meeting was held at John HalFs inn three weeks later. 
John Hall was elected the first town clerk, and John Goffe, 
William Perham, Nathaniel Boyd, Daniel McNiel, and Eliezar 
Wells, selectmen. The second meeting was held at the same 
place twelve weeks later, and "voted twonty fore Pounds old 
tenor to be Eesed to paye fore priching for thies present yiear." 
This may be considered the birth date of the town church of 
Derryfield. There had probably been preaching in the neigh- 
borhood at different times in private houses, but there had 
been no organized provision for it. One chief motive in the 
incorporation of the town was the religious motive — the need 
of regular worship. "To pay for the Charges of the Charter 
and to pay for Preaching and to pay all other Charges that 

31 



33 TOWN CHURCH HISTORY. 

may arise this year^' — this is the order in which the first war- 
rant assessing the inhabitants of Derryfield is issued. The 
religious wants of the community are to be provided for as 
the first business after settling up the expenses of the incorpo- 
ration. However negligent of religion the inhabitants of 
Derryfield seemed to become in later years, they started right. 
Their intentions were good in the beginning. This warrant, 
however, was severe in execution, and sowed the seed of future 
disturbance. It was declared in the warrant that "if any per- 
son or persons shall neglect or refuse to make payment of the 
sum or sums whereat he or they are respectively assessed or set 
down in Sd Lists, to Distrain the Goods or Chatties of the Sd 
Delinquent or Delinquents to the Valine thereof and the dis- 
tress or distresses so taken you are to keep by the spase of four 
Days at the cost and Charges of the owner, and if the owner 
do not pay the sum or sums so assessed upon him or them 
within the Sd four days the distress or distresses so taken you 
are to expose and openly sell at an outcry for payment of the 
tax and charges, notice of such sale being posted in some pub- 
lick place in said town twenty four hours beforehand, and the 
overplush, if any there arising By Sd sale besides the Sd assess- 
ment and Charges of taking and keeping the Distress or Dis- 
tresses to be Immediately restored to the owner, and for want 
of goods and Chatties whereon to make distress you are to 
seize the Body or Boyds of him or them so refusing and him 
or them Commit unto the Common Coal of Sd Province there 
to remain untill he or they pay and satisfie the several sum or 
sums whereat he or they are assessed respectively." 

This warrant was dated at Derryfield January 14, 1752, in 
the twenty-fifth year of the reign of George II. It was signed 
by John Goffe, William Perham, and Daniel McMel, and 



THE FIRST ERA. 33 

recorded by John Hall, "town Clark/' It was unfortunate for 
the church that it appeared to be the chief beneficiary of these 
drastic proceedings. These methods of collecting taxes have 
long since been repudiated. Human nature would not endure 
them in the collection of ecclesiastical debts. Human 
nature is singular in this respect. It is long-suffering and 
patient under tax sales and foreclosures, when the civil power is 
the exacting force, or is to be the beneficiary of its own severity. 
But let the church be the beneficiary, even in an indirect 
degree, and how men will rage! Our Derryfield fathers peace- 
ably paid their taxes to meet the tavern and drink bills of its 
representatives here and there, but let those taxes go for Pres- 
byterian preaching in the town church, and the dissenters and 
atheists made the air blue with their righteous wrath. Be- 
hold, how strange a thing is the human conscience! And 
3^et, in so far as human nature has revolted against 
enforced taxation for the support of the church, it has 
been fighting a battle for the church itself, and for its place in 
the affectionate devotion of men. It is not becoming that the 
church, whose sway over men should be the mild and stern 
sway of love and conscience, should receive the fruits of civil 
oppression — of seizures, sheriff's sales, and imprisonments. 
And it is to the enduring honor of the church that she has 
rejected such methods of support. The state, on the other 
hand, has not rejected these methods — with the one exception 
of imprisonment for debt. The state taxes the people yet with 
a stern hand, and exacts the last farthing of the tax. If it is 
delayed beyond a certain point, interest or fines are added. 
Property on which the civil taxes are not duly paid is, in the 
stern course of time, seized and sold in the interests of the 
civil power. In the incorporation of Derryfield, it was in- 



M TO IVN CHURCH HI ST OR V. 

tended that the chief object and the largest recipient of tax- 
ation should be the church. Next to the church came the 
secular administration. In other words, the largest part of a 
citizen's taxes went to the support of the church — a smaller 
part to the support of the town in its civil concerns. Accord- 
ing to that principle, public taxes ought now to be a half less 
than they were before the church threw itself upon the vol- 
untary support of the people. 

The incorporators of Derryfield have been accused of indif- 
ference to religion. No impression can be more incorrect. 
Though somewhat testy and quarrelsome, they were God-fear- 
ing men in their way. If any conclusive proof of the fact were 
needed it may be found in an interesting petition from the 
town of Derryfield, signed by John Hall and John Goffe, 
selectmen, addressed, October 3, 1784, to the New Hampshire 
senate and house of representatives. It made complaint — 

"That a breach of the sabbath is become so frequent that 
few hours of the day passes but repeated instances of it is to be 
seen upon any of our public roads. Not only travelling upon 
foot and Horse, but driving loaded teams as if they pursued 
their secular busnes upon that day with more alacrity than 
any other." 

But no such proof is needed outside of the Derryfield town 
records, for at a special town meeting, held six weeks after issu- 
ing the above-mentioned tax warrant, one hundred pounds, old 
tenor, was voted "for priching," and John Eidiel and Nathaniel 
Boyd were appointed a committee to provide for it. This meet- 
ing was held March 2, 1752. The next meeting was held July 
20, following. An article had been put in the warrant "to see 
where the town will keep publick worship for the season.'' 
In those daj^s, when roads were bad and the inhabitants widely 



THE FIRST ERA. 35 

scattered, the summer was the most favorable season for church 
going. The town was poor, or felt poor, and at this meeting 
it did not venture on the expense of church building, but — 

"Vouted that the Placieses of Publick Worishep be held at 
Banjmien Stivenes and William McClintos the first sabouth 
at Banjmien Stivenes & the nixt at William McClintos and 
sow sabouth about till the nixt town meetien/' 

The force and originality of John HalFs character are 
strikingly illustrated in his spelling. His free-hand spelling 
is especially interesting in the touches of Irish brogue which it 
has preserved, as in "nixt,'' "Stivenes," and "firest." You can 
catch the Scotch-Irish burr of the r sound in "firest" and 
"Worishep.'' The Puritans and their descendants, on the 
other hand, make no use of the r sound in such situations. 

Thus Benjamin Stevens's and William McClintock's barns 
were the first places of public worship authorized by the town. 
They were so located as to be well within reach of all the 
inhabitants of the town. The services were held in these places 
throughout the summer and fall of 1752. The one hundred 
pounds voted at the previous March meeting had not yet been 
expended, and in February, 1753, at a special meeting held at 
Benjamin Stevens's barn, it was voted to continue the arrange- 
ment till the money was spent. It was also voted "that the 
minister be kept at William McClintos." The minister was 
Alexander McDowell, Avho had preached with such satisfaction 
both in Derryfield and Bedford that each town was ready to 
give him a call. The Derryfield call came first. John Riedell, 
Alexander McMurphy, and John Hall were a committee "to 
prosecute the giving of Mr. McDowell a call to the work of 
the ministry to join with the town of Bedford or separate and 
distinct by ourselves." Three weeks later, Bedford voted him 



36 TO WN CHURCH HIST OR V. 

a imanimoiis call. There is a tradition that he did not accept 
the call to Derryfield. The annual report of the New Hamp- 
shire Missionary Society for 1838 — seventy-five years after this 
first call was given — contains this interesting, but not alto- 
gether accurate, account of the transaction: 

"Manchester is an old town, on the east side of Merrimack river, 

16 or 18 miles below Concord. It contains, probably, about 800 
inhabitants, and has been incorporated 77 years. Within about 

17 years after the incorporation of the town [within three years 
rather] the inhabitants, in the spirit of our puritan fathers, de- 
termined to enjoy the privileges of the Gospel, invited a Min- 
ister to preach to them as a candidate, and after suitable trial of 
him, presented him a call to become their Pastor. To this call, 
for reasons unknown to us, he gave a negative answer; and it is 
said that no Minister of Jesus has since been invited to settle in 
that place. Here is a desolation of sixty long years which stands 
forth a solemn warning to the servants of Christ, to take heed how 
they give a negative answer to the calls which they receive." 

Though the religious desolation of Derryfield was great 
enough, it had been by no means so great as in 1828 it appeared 
to have been. Derryfield had probably listened to a greater 
number of ministers than any other town in the state during 
that time. That Alexander McDowell did not accept the call 
is a tradition which must be correct. We have no present 
means of verifying it. The facts took place just a hundred 
and fifty years ago. The tradition is based upon such state- 
ments as the one above quoted, which was written within the 
reach of human memory from the event. But Mr. McDowell 
held the call under consideration for nearly two months, and the 
town felt sure enough of his acceptance to vote him a yearly sal- 
ary of two hundred pounds, old tenor, provided he accepted the 
joint call from the two towns. If the Bedford end of his dual 



THE FIRST ERA. 37 

parish would do as well as Derryfield^his salary would be a cred- 
itable one for that day. Potter tells us that "the name of no 
other minister employed in this town is found in our records 
to this time." Potter has placed the people of this vicinity, 
and of New Ham])shire in general, under a heavy debt of grati- 
tude for his history of Manchester. His historical learning 
was vast, and his memory prodigious. But he was not enough 
of a plodder to be accurate. He was either too busy with his 
other numerous duties, or too impatient to pursue a steady, 
sleuth-hound chase for facts in musty records. This only can 
account for the amazing statement that the name of no other 
minister is mentioned in Derryfield records. The records fairly 
bristle with the names of ministers employed by tlie town down 
as late as 1814. We surmise that Mr. McDowell's reason for 
declining the Derryfield call, not to mention the unattractive 
prospect of preaching Sunday about in Stevens's and McClin- 
tock's barns, may have been found in the factional spirit that 
disturbed the peace of the town. Perhaps he lacked the cour- 
age to undertake the task of bringing harmony out of chaos. 
His declining the call was a grievous disappointment, if we 
may jud^c by the traditional impressions. It was a calamity 
from .which old Derryfield never recovered. He little realized 
how much depended on the answer he hesitated so long to 
give. But the town by no means surrendered to its disap- 
pointment. 

September 5, 1754, the location of the prospective meeting- 
house was fixed "by the side of the Highway that leads from 
Londonderry to Amoscheeg Falls, some place betwixt William 
McClintock's and James Murphy's.'' This vote was apparently 
the result of a hot contest, and was certainly the cause of one 
which was to disturb the peace of the town for a half-century 



38 TO WN CHURCH HI ST OR V. 

or more. The location was the issue that split the town poli- 
tics into the two universal parties — the powers that be, and the 
opposition. The opposition in this case was heterogeneous, as 
oppositions usually are. A chief element in it was the Massa- 
chusetts or English part_y, made up of the remnant of the 
Tyngstown settlement and a few others. It rallied around 
the person of Col. John Goffe, who was the most important 
and prominent personage in the town, though not as influ- 
ential in town politics as John Hall. Goffe was a marked 
figure in the political history of Derryfield, and by force of 
character held important offices, even while the Hall faction 
was dominant. Though he disliked the location chosen for 
the meetinghouse he loyally supported the church and took 
a leading part in its management. Five months after the 
vote fixing the location of the meetinghouse, a petition signed 
by thirty voters was given the selectmen for the calling of a 
special meeting "to reconsider the vote of locating the meeting 
house and raiseing money for building.-^ The selectmen re- 
fused. The petitioners appealed to the court of the province, 
and the constable, Benjamin Hadley, was enjoined to call such 
a meeting. It was held March 1, 1755, and the vote relative 
to the location and building of a meetinghouse was rescinded. 
This was stormy navigation for the little church, but it held 
up. Preaching continued, especially during the summer season. 
At a special meeting held at John Hall's barn it was voted 
"to pay Conol John Goffe sixtey poundes old tenor to pay the 
Revernt Binjimen Buteler for priching.'^ Sixty pounds repre- 
sented considerable preaching in those days, and though Ben- 
jamin Butler was never settled as the permanent minister of 
the parish, he evidently spent some time and labor in the 
Derryfield vineyard. No traditions of his ministry have come 



THE FIRST ERA. 39 

down to US. What manner of man he was we do not know, 
unless we may be permitted to judge him by his famous name- 
sake. The same meeting that ordered Colonel Goffe to pay 
Benjamin Butler sixty pounds for preaching voted seven 
pounds, two years overdue, to Rev. Samuel McClintock, for 
like service. 



VL 

THE SECOND EEA. 



The arrested meetinghouse project was set in motion again 
by the following touching petition, dated August 27, 1T58: 

"To the selectmen of the town of Derryfield, Gentlemen, Free- 
holders and Inhabitants of said town, We the undersiibscribers, 
looking upon ourselves as under a great disadvantage for want 
of a place of Public Worship, as we have rising fameleys which 
cannot atend at other places, and as it would be encouragement 
for Ministers to Com and preach unto us if we were forward in 
getting a place for the public worshipe of God ourselves." 

This petition is signed by Capt. Alexander McMurphy, John 
Hall, Eobert Anderson, James Eiddell, Samuel Boyd, John 
Dickey, Benjamin Stevens, John Eiddell, James Humphrey, 
Hugh Stirling, Michael McClintock, Eobert Dickey, John Mer- 
rill, James Pitirs (?), Vfilliam Petiers (?), William Nutt, Jame& 
Peirse, John Harvey, William Perham, Jr., Thomas Hall. 

This petition deserved to be effective, and it was, for on 
the 21st of the following month a special meeting was held 
which undertook the building of a meetinghouse in earnest. 
Here is the record: 

''Voted to build the meetien Houes on John Hall's land joyening 
the road leading to Thomas Hall's ferry and the Ammacheag 
Falls. 

40 



THE SECOAD ERA. 41 

"Voted to raise six hundred pounds to carry on the building 
the said meetien Hones. 

-Voted to raiese Said meetien Hones forty feet in lenth thirtey 
five feet in Brenth. 

"Voted, Capt. William Perham and Levt. Hugh Stirlen and John 
Hall ye Commitey to carey on the builden of above said Meetien 
Hones." 

These measures, though essential to the well-being of the 
town, were opposed by a considerable number of malcontents. 
The Tyngstown remnant had not forgotten the unfriendly 
aloofness of the Scotch-Irish in the days when they were en- 
gaged in the trying task of building up a town and securing 
support for their parish church. They returned evil for 
evil. Some refused to pay their church taxes. Some 
of them suffered for their refusal. Some did not refuse, 
but delayed, and the building went on by jerks and starts. 
By July 15, 1759, it had been framed and raised, for on that 
date it was voted to collect five hundred pounds "toward 
Borden and Shingelen of our Meetien Houes," this sum to be 
taken out of the six hundred pounds that had been voted the 
previous year. Capt. William Perham, Lieut. Hugh Stirling, 
and John Hall were the building committee. It was voted 
that John Hall apply for financial help for the building of the 
meetinghouse to non-resident "gentlemen" having uncultivated 
or unimproved lands in the town. It was also voted that 
"whoever pays any money to the above said meetien Houes 
shall have their names and the sums of money they pay re- 
corded in Derryfield town Book of Records." 

The factional fight continued. The building committee's 
honesty was questioned and a committee consisting of Michael 
McClintock, John Harvey, and David Starrett was appointed 



43 TOWN CHURCH HISTORY. 

to examine the accounts. No crookedness was discovered, 
and the arrested enterprise was resumed. It was voted at this 
meeting, November 15, 1759, "not to underpin our meeting- 
house at present, but to make one door this year.'^ The town 
was either beginning to feel the drain of the undertaking, or 
the opposition had grown in strength as the building pro- 
gressed, for at a meeting held December 3, 1759, it was voted 
"not to collect any more money from the town this year towards 
the meeting house." The town was bonded to pay off the debts 
that had been incurred up to date. The building committee 
were given full power to borrow the necessary money at such 
interest as they could obtain it for, securing the loan by the 
credit of the town. In the following August, 1760, the select- 
men were instructed to underpin the meetinghouse and to put 
in two doors. Finally, December 15, 1760, the house was con- 
sidered near enough complete to order that the names of the 
donors be recorded. This was the closing year of the French 
and Indian War, and the mighty men of Derryfield had 
returned from the blood-curdling experiences of that brutal 
conflict to the peace of their home firesides. This list of donors 
to the building of the town church of Derryfield begins with 
the names of twelve officers in the Indian wars. Here are the 
names of "Col. John Goffe,'^ heading the list, and "Capt. John 
Stark," fourth in the list, fresh from the frontiers. The largest 
amounts are from Abraham Miral (Merrill), £72 — 18 — 4, 
and John Goffe, £71—18—10. John Stark is credited 
to £40 — — 3. These amounts represent the church taxes of 
the years 1758, 1759, and 1760. Here is the name of Ezekiel 
Stevens, the most interesting name in the list when we pause 
to realize what he had just gone through. He had been one 
of the victims of the massacre that followed Montcalm's cap- 



THE SECOND ERA. 43 

ture of Fort William Henry in the snmmer of 1757. When 
the British marched out of the surrendered fortress, the pro- 
vincial, or American, troojDS were in the rear. They had 
defended the fort till their ammunition had failed, and were 
defenseless save for the assurances of Montcalm. How empty 
those assurances proved to be is attested by one of the blackest 
horrors in American history. How the waiting saA^ages, at a 
preconcerted signal, burst like a cyclone of death on the un- 
protected rear of the retreating garrison has been graphically 
told in the fiction of Cooper and the history of Parkman. 
Some few of the attacked provincials escaped to the woods. 
One of them was overtaken by the savages and stripped of his 
clothing, but not without a severe struggle. A blow from a 
tomahawk leveled him to the earth. His scalp was taken, and 
with one more finishing blow from the tomahawk his body was 
left as food for the beasts and birds. But he came of a stock 
that dies hard, and after a time he awoke to consciousness. He 
had streng-th enough left to crawl to a log, where he seated 
himself. While he was engaged in the task of recalling his 
mind from its bloody bewilderment, he was suddenly set 
upon by another Indian, who claimed him as a prisoner. 
He resisted the claim and clung to the log. While this 
was going on he was fortunately taken in charge by a pass- 
ing company of French soldiers. He was well cared for at 
the fort, and in a few months was permitted to return to his 
home. His home was Derryfielcl, and his name was Ezekiel 
Stevens. "His scalp," says Potter, "was removed almost from 
the entire head, save a line around it about the limit betwixt 
the hair and the smooth skin of the face and neck. To protect 
his head thus exposed, he always wore a close knit cap upon it. 
This memento of the '^Massacre of Fort William Henry' is well 



44 TO WN CHUR CH IIISTOR Y. 

remembered by many of the original citizens of Manchester at 
the present day, who have often heard from his own lips an 
account of his thrilling adventure.'^ The savage that left him 
for dead probably never realized how little reason he had to 
boast of the scalp that Inmg from his belt. In the list of 
tax-donors to the town church, Ezekiel Stevens in his scull-cap 
is credited to £12—8—4. This list was recorded by John Hall, 
"Town Clark/' March 2, 1761. 

Still the meetinghouse was unfinished and the strife which 
it had caused had now divided the town into two bitter fac- 
tions. One was headed by John Hall, the first political boss 
of Derryfield. The opposition was led by John Gofle. The 
long course of this strife is tedious and unedifying. Who- 
ever desires to retrace its steps is commended to the town 
records of Derryfield, or to Potter's "History of Manchester." 
It was a most unfortunate conflict for the early welfare of 
Derryfield. It ultimately drove many of the best citizens 
from the town, Colonel Goffe among them, and gave it a 
repellant reputation. The fault, as usual, was almost equally 
shared by the two factions. It may be said to have begun 
with the inhospitable purposes of the "English" to crowd 
out the Scotch-Irish from the Merrimac valley. It was ]Dro- 
longed by the testy, unyielding temper of the Scotch-Irish 
themselves, after they came into control of the destinies of 
the territory. The conflict reached its height in 1766, when 
the town elected two sets of officers, and the state was 
compelled to intervene to restore order. And the order that 
was restored was an order of litigation. John Hall was called 
to account for the funds he had collected from non-resident 
taxpayers for the meetinghouse. He showed a clear record, 
only to be accused in turn for having embezzled a part of the 



THE SECOND ERA. 45 

four hundred pounds which had been borrowed to pay off the 
meetinghouse debts. He replied by bringing in a bill for extra 
expenditure. The bill was rejected. He sued the town. John 
Goife and William McClintock were chosen as agents to defend 
the town. The suit was begun at Portsmouth, but the town 
offered settlement out of court, and came out a heavy loser in 
the game of litigation. The prosecuting agents brought in an 
account of their expenses. Among the items in William Mc- 
Clintock's expense account against the town is the following: 

^'1771 Feb 4th 

At Chaster, to a mess of otes and 

a jU of Ruin a Coming- hom 6. [Shillings]" 

He also charges the town for a ^^Bowl of Todey" which he 
had at Greenland, and sundry other drinks at Exeter, Kings- 
town, and elsewhere. The John Hall party usually came out 
on top in the end, though the opposition scored several tem- 
porary victories. For instance, April 2, 1764, they carried a 
vote not to raise any money for preaching that year. Six 
auonths later they were strong enough to carry the vote a step 
further, and appropriated the money that had been raised for 
preaching to the paying of the town debts: 

''Voted that the monej' that wase Raised in the j^ear 1763 for 
I'riechien & not Expended for the use Intended should g-ow to 
pay the towns Detes for money Borowed and was formerly voted 
to Repeair the meeting" House." 

William McClintock, John Stark, and John Moor were town 
selectmen at that time, and John Hall was town clerk. It is 
not certain that this vote was carried by one faction over the 
heads of another faction. It is possible that it was dictated by 
the town's financial extremities. During the most of this 



46 10 WN CHURCH HISTOR V. 

period of warfare the town was supplied witli preaching at 
irregular intervals. iVs the result of the town meeting held 
March -l, 1T65, more preaching was provided for in the town 
that year than ever before. But the evil temper of the inhab- 
itants had been so profoundly stirred that it would take more 
than one year's preaching to allay it. It was at the following 
March meeting that each faction elected its own set of town 
officers. The Hall party was dominant in the town, for even 
after a new election had been ordered by the state, and every 
element of the opposition would be expected to show itself, the 
Hall party was triumphant, and John Hall was elected to two 
of the most important offices in the town^clerk and selectman. 
N'ine months later, however, the dissenters rallied and voted 
not to raise any money for preaching tlie coming year. 

In 1773 the disturbed state of feelings was found to be 
quieted enough to justify the town in another attempt to settle 
a minister. Eev. George Gilmore had preached occasionally 
in the meetinghouse, and on the 20th of August four articles 
were inserted in the warrant for a town meeting: to see if the 
town would vote him a call; to see what yearly salary they 
should vote him in case he accepted; to see how much settle- 
ment money they should vote him; and to see if they should 
send a committee to negotiate with him about the matter. The 
meeting which was held September 6 was not yet prepared to 
extend a call, but Mr. Gilmore was sent for to come and preach 
two Sundays on further trial. He was evidently found accept- 
able, but the movements of the town were unaccountably slow, 
for it was not till December 30 that the call was voted. He 
was offered the insignificant yearly cash salary of thirty pounds, 
besides thirty pounds in cash and sixty pounds in labor, as set- 
tlement money. David Starrett, Samuel Boyd, John Perham, 



THE SECOND ERA. 47 

and Lieut. James McCalley were appointed a committee to 
communicate with him. At an adjourned meeting held two 
months later they had received no answer from Mr. Gilmore. 
The reason for his silence is unknown. It would probably be 
doing him an injustice to say that he did not think it worth 
while to waste the expensive postage of those days on such a 
penurious, procrastinating town. He may have been ill, or the 
letter miscarried. At any rate, this second attempt to settle 
a minister in Derryfield ended in failure. This brings the 
story of the old town church down to February 21, 1774. The 
long and bloody struggle for independence had already begun 
with the "Boston Tea Party'^ a little over two months before, 
December 16. From this time until the close of the Eevolu- 
tion the patriotic town of Derryfield had little time or money 
for anything but war. 



VIL 
THE THIRD ERA, 



The meetinghouse had been left in its incomplete condition, 
growing old and needing repair. May 22, 1780, an effort was 
made to raise money for its repair by selling the "pew ground." • 
At the close of the war, June 2, 1783, the town voted to raise 
one hundred dollars, one half in money and the other half in 
labor, for the repair of the meetinghouse. Major John Web- 
ster, Lieut. Daniel Hall, and Samuel Stark were the committee 
that directed the repairs. The amount voted was found to be 
insufficient, and on the following September the allowance was 
increased by fifty dollars. In 1790 a successful effort was made 
to raise money for the completion of the meetinghouse by sell- 
ing the pew ground. The sale was conducted at public auction 
June 22, by Major John Webster, John Green, and John Hall. 
The ground on which each pew was to be built was struck off to 
the highest bidder. The purchasers were to pay two thirds of 
the purchase price in glass, nails, marketable clapboards or 
putty, and one third in money. The name of each purchaser, 
with the number of his pew and the amount paid for it, was 
to be recorded in the Derryfield town book. Here are the 
names as recorded by John Goffe, town clerk: Major John Web- 
ster, Daniel Davis, Daniel Hall, Capt. John Perham, James 
Gorman, John Green, John Hall, Lieut. David Merrell, John 

48 



THE THIRD ERA. 



49 





\ 






























^ 


16 


18 


P-O 


PULPIT. 


13 


jr 


IS 






IH 
















u 




















1 P- 


// 














^Z 


50 


P. 3 


31 










1 




wtsr 

DOOR 


^6 


^8 


PS 


^r 


EAST 




10 


2 5 


Z% 


p. 1 


1 

2^ 




9 






S 












r 








3 


2 




^.J. I 


^ 








.^-^' 
















b 


OU 


TH E 


-^TRANIC 


E 











Plan Of pewSf»<PRE5BYr£RMN Church, East MA^iCKESTER ,^ )7S2 

/^NAI^C HESTER CENTER^) 



50 TOWN CHURCH HISTORY. 

Stark, Jr., Jonathan Greeley, Asa Haseltine, David Webster, 
Joseph Haseltine, William Nutt, Dr. John Duston, Abraham 
Amjny, Israel Young, John Dickey, Capt. Samuel Moor, 
Joseph Farmer, Peter Emerson, Archibald Gamble, Joshua 
Perse, Samuel Moor, Thomas Griffin, John Goffe. 

It would appear from this list that the Eevolutionary strug- 
gle had brought the ecclesiastical factions of Derryfield into 
harmonious agreement for once. The purchasers of the pew 
ground built their pews immediately. So successful had been 
this transaction that the town decided to go on and sell the 
pew ground for the galleries. March 5, 1792, the selectmen 
were instructed to expend forty dollars in building the galleries. 
Eight months later the sale was effected under John Stark, 
Daniel Davis, and Samuel Moor, selectmen. The highest 
bidder was to be the purchaser. N'o bid was to be accepted less 
than sixpence. The purchasers were William Perham, David 
Stevens, John Stark, Able Huse, James Majorey, Samuel 
Smith, Capt. John Perham, Capt. Samuel Moor, Green Simons, 
William Stevens, Daniel Davis, John Hall, Jr. But for some 
reason the gallery pews were never built. 

This sudden revival of interest in the church is not explained 
by the town records. We would be at a loss to account for it 
if it were not for the old traditions that earlier local historians 
have been thoughtful enough to preserve. By the assistance 
of these traditions, verified by the cold facts of the town rec- 
ords, we learn that a preacher of striking eloquence and per- 
sonal power had been preaching in Derryfield. His name was 
William Pickles. Relying on Potter as our authority, we learn 
that he "was a native of Wales, where he married Margaret 
Tregallis. After emigrating to this country he preached for a 
time in Philadelphia. He came into the neighboring town of 



THE THIRD ERA. 51 

Bedford somewhere about 1787. He preached in Bedford some 
years, a portion of the time. At first he was very popular as a 
preacher, and it was proposed to settle him, but for some rea- 
sons not easily accounted for, an opposition sprang up against 
him in Bedford, and became so violent as to forbid the idea of 
a settlement. His enemies charged him with dissolute habits 
in Philadelphia, but the charge was stoutly denied by his 
friends. At length the strife waxed so warm and became so 
pointed that Lieut. John Orr offered to lay a wager of fifty 
dollars that the charge was true. The wager was taken by Mr. 
Pickels's friends, and Mr. William Riddle was agreed upon as 
the agent of the parties to proceed to Philadelphia and in- 
vestigate the charge. His report was to be final. Mr. Riddle 
went to Philadelphia on horseback, investigated the matter, 
found tlie charge untrue in eA^ery particular, returned, and 
reported the result. There was great exultation on the part 
of the winners, and they met at the store of Isaac Riddle, 
Esquire, to rejoice over the victory. Mr. Riddle was desig- 
nated as their agent to go to Mr. Orr's and get the wager. He 
accordingly waited upon Mr. Orr and made known the result 
of the investigation. AYithouFmaking a remark, Lieutenant 
Orr went to his desk and paid over the money. Mr. Riddle 
took the money back to the winners, and it was spent at the 
counter in liquor for the multitude! But the result did not 
stay the opposition against Mr. Pickels, and he was forced to 
abandon the idea of a settlement. He however continued to 
preach in Bedford a portion of the time for some sixteen years. 
His friends would pay their money for no other man, as long 
as he was in the neighborhood; and as they constituted near one 
half of the people in Bedford, and among them some of the 
most influential, Mr. Pickels continued to 'supply the pulpit' 



52 TO WN CHUR CH II IS TO R V. 

about one half of the time. The remaining part of the time 
he preached in the vicinity, mostly in Derryfield."' 

Mr. Pickles preached in Derryfield at least as early as 1791. 
There is a town record of April 2, 1792, that Joseph Farmer 
is paid ten shillings "for Keeping Wilham Pickles the Last 
year." It was this William Pickles who relinked the i^eople of 
Derryfield for their neglect in not repairing and completing 
the meetinghouse. 'Tf yon don't repair the honse of God/' 
said he, ''the devil will come in and carry yon out at the 
cracks." It was perhaps to escape such an uncanny experi- 
ence that the town had carried on such a successful sale of 
pew ground for the re])air of the meetinghouse. Mr. Pickles 
had no permanent engagement at Derryfield. He was sent for 
when wanted. An interesting vote is recorded in the town 
hook in 1791, to 'Giv an order to John Ray for Fifteen Shil- 
lings on Capt. Perham Collector, it being voted to General 
Stark for going to Amherst & to Bedford to hire Mr. Pickles to 
preach in the year 1793." Other preachers were also employed 
more or less, but Mr. Pickles seems to have been the general 
favorite. June 16, 1797, Enoch Whipple receives twelve dol- 
lars and fifty cents, the balance due him "for supplying the 
Desk in Derryfield in 1796." March 24, 1798, widow Eliza- 
beth Hall is voted -fifty cents "for entertaining the minister 
for years past." The following May "Archibald Gamel" re- 
ceived ten dollars for money he expended in hiring preaching 
in the previous year. In August twenty-four dollars is voted 
to "Revt Mister Ordway for his preaching six days at four dol- 
lars pr day." In December "Mister Andrews" receives four 
dollars for one day's preaching service. Then we come to 
Mr. Pickles again, who appears to have been paid at the rate of 
six dollars a Sunday. By vote of July 19, 1799, he received 



THE THIRD ERA. 53 

forty-two dollars for supplying the pulpit during that year. 
The"^ town, during this period, took reasonably good care 
of the meetinghouse. October 8, 1798, James Young was 
voted twenty-eight dollars for repairing the meetinghouse. 
The following March he was voted a like sum for the like ser- 
vice. November 5, 1803, Mr. Pickles receives an order on the 
town treasury for sixty-six dollars for preaching. Six weeks 
later a Mr. McGregor receives an order for eighteen dollars 
"for preaching three days." July 20, 1804, Lieut. Daniel Hall 
receives an order for fifteen dollars "for Boarding Mr. Pickels 
in the year 1803.'^ 

We now enter upon the period of dissolution of the bonds 
between the church and the town. Hitherto the town has 
been divided into two parties. Henceforth the town is to 
free itself gradually of any corporate connection with the 
church. The first step in this direction is to abate the 
church taxes of those who for one reason or another prefer 
not to pay them. March 12, 1805, the town votes to abate- 
Peter Emerson's and Stephen Moor's "minister tax." The 
town, however, as a whole, continues to support the church 
for several years to come. March 1, 1806, David AYebster is 
voted an order for forty-two dollars "for paying Mr. Pickets,"" 
Mr. Pickles not only acted as parish minister, but for a time 
also conducted the town school. March 29, 1806, David Web- 
ster received an order for three dollars and seventy-five cents 
for boarding ]\Ir. Pickles while teaching school. Among the 
other ministers whose names are found in the town records 
down to the year 1811 are Joseph Goffe, Mr. Harris (probably 
the Walter Harris who held a long and notable pastorate in 
Dunbarton, and whose name we shall meet again), "Mr. Lord 
the minister," Mr. Chapin, Mr. Colby, Josiah Richardson^ 

4 



54 TOWN CHURCH HISTORY. 

Mr. Merrill, Mr. Leonard, Mr. Ambrose, Mr. Farwell, "Elder 
Stone,'' Mr. Herrick, Mr. Brown, Josiah Convers, and Sabastian 
Streeter. Mr. Streeter makes his first appearance in the town 
records by a vote October 1, 1810, giving "an order to Isaac 
Hnse on Town Treasurer for twelve Dollars due to him for 
paying Mr. Streeter and Mr. Farwejl for one days preaching 
each." This was the year when the unique name of Derry- 
field was changed by the fancy of Thomas Stickney to the 
commonplace name of Manchester. Mr. Streeter was paid out 
of the town treasury for preaching as late as February 22, 1813. 
In the previous year, March 10, the town had "voted to raise 
one hundred dollars to hire preaching," and John Dwinnell, 
James Xutt, and Isaac Huse were appointed a committee to 
provide it. At the same meeting it was "voted that each 
religious denomination shall Injoy the Benefit of their own 
money as it respits the preachers they may chuse to hire." 
Here enters the denominational conception of Christianity, 
and the end of the period of town establishment is at hand. 
At the same meeting it was voted to sell the vacant parsonage 
lot. For the meeting of February 2, 1813, an article was in- 
serted in the warrant "to see if the town will raise any money 
for preaching and how much." Xone was voted. There were 
two parties in the town — ^^the town church party, and the dis- 
establishment party. The former had been up to this time 
strong enough generally to carry their purposes. March 8, 
1814, marks the important point in the history of Derryfield- 
Manchester — when the church party ceased to be able to con- 
trol the policies of the town. From that day on they were 
for a time strong enough to insert articles in the warrants for 
the town meetings, but not strong enough to vote them into 
effect. The boisterous character of that meetins: is reflected 



THE THIRD ERA. 55 

from the placid pages of the town records. The fourth arti- 
cle in the warrant was "to see how much mone}^ the Town 
will raise for preaching the present year and employ Mr. Smith 
as minister." Mr. Smith was on hand at the meeting, and 
the church party scored the first point by carrying a vote that 
"Henery T. Smith make a short prayer." But the dissenters 
were deaf to eloquence whether of prayer or plain speech, and 
when the time came, "motion was made to dismiss the forth 
article in the warrant, but did not carry at that time." Then 
the contestants took a breathing spell. We can only guess 
what was said and done, for there is not the slightest recoi^d 
to direct us. It resulted, however, in disaster to the church 
party, for the very next item reads as follows: 

"Afterwards motion was again made to dismiss the fourtli 
article, and) teas voted to dismiss th-e same.'' 

The church party realized the meaning of such a vote. It 
meant the disestablishment of the town church of Manchester. 
They could not reconcile themselves to any such awful action. 
It seemed like an abandonment of God, for as yet they could 
not conceive of the maintenance of the worship of God without 
the assistance of the civil power. They considered such a vote 
a disgrace to the town. The boisterousness was quieted and 
the discussion became serious, solemn, and prophetic. We read 
this between the lines, for there is no minute to aid us, except 
the vote that immediately follows. It was — 

"Voted that the two last votes be arrased out and begun 
annew on the forth article — and on motion being made to dismiss 
the fourth article it was voted to dismiss the same." 

One can almost hear the sigh of despair that arose from the 
little meeting when that last vote was declared. Henceforth 



56 TO WN CHUR CH HIS TOR K 

the old town church of Manchester is cast adrift on the world. 
The waves that break over it at first seem to overwhelm it 
entirely. For a few years it is altogether lost to view. But 
it emerges again as the Presbyterian Church and Society of 
Manchester in 1828, and again, by union with the Congrega- 
tional Church in Amoskeag, it rises in the First Congregational 
Church in Manchester to pursue a strong and triumphant 
course. 

Though the votes we have just mentioned mark the dis- 
establishment of the church in Manchester, they do not blot 
out the existence of the church. The church party henceforth 
constituted the church, and the church party did not cease to 
labor for the reinstatement of the church for several years yet 
to come. In the warrants for the annual town meetings of 
1815, 1816, and 1817 they kept the ecclesiastical issue to the 
front by inserting the article "to see how much money the 
town will raise for preaching." Evidence of the existence of 
a town church party is found in the town records as late as 
March 12, 1822. It was five or six years later, when all hope 
of restoring the corporate union between church and town had 
entirely vanished, that the scattered fragments of the church 
party came together to organize themselves into an ecclesi- 
astical society, in accordance with the necessities of the volun- 
tary principle. The men who were to organize this Presby- 
terian society in March, 1828, were the same men who had 
striven earnestly but in vain to preserve the connection 
between the church and the town. The separation did not 
annihilate either member of the partnership. The town that 
was incorporated in 1751 has had an uneven but continuous 
history. So also has the church. The church has changed 
its name. So also has the town. 



PART III. 



AFTER THE DISESTABLISHMENT. 



VIII. 

THE TRANSITION. 



The ancient Presbyterian church of Derryfield, whose begin- 
nings were coeval witli tlie incorporation of the town in 1751, 
never really ceased to exist. The old meetinghouse, the build- 
ing of which was such a bone of contention in the early history 
of the town, still stands on the same ridge, the fathers who 
quarreled about it sleeping peacefully in the churchyard at its 
side. It was the meetinghouse for the town from the time 
it was built in 1759, in the closing year of the French and 
Indian War, until about 1810. Eeligious worship was held in 
it at indefinite intervals during the whole period. It had 
passed through great tribulations. During the French and 
Indian War, the Starks, the Goffes, the Stevenses, and other 
chief spirits of the place were fighting for the preservation of 
their homes and guarding the frontiers. Many had never 
returned. War is not a good school for religion, and some 
who did return seemed to give less concern than ever to the 
religious welfare of the town. Then had come a short interval 
of peace before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. The 
interval was too short to allow the current of the religious life 
to cut out a channel for itself in the community. The long 
struggle for independence absorbed the energies of old Derry- 
field. There was no restraint to her patriotism. Her able- 

59 



60 TO WN CHUR CH HIS TOR V. 

bodied men rushed to Boston with the first report of the fight- 
ing at Lexington. The community lived only a waiting exist- 
ence till the Eevolution was complete. Then had come the 
period of national construction based on a new set of princi- 
ples, the chief of which was that of the separation of church 
and state. The Constitution of the United States had denied 
to Congress the enactment of any law relative to the establish- 
ment of religion. The French Eevolution, coming on the eve 
of our own, had exerted a powerful influence in the same 
direction. The civil authority ceased to concern itself with 
the religious wants of the people. The fate of the church was 
committed to the voluntary principle. The church was turned 
out into the cold. It was severe usage, but the American 
church has adjusted itself to the separation and would refuse 
now to return to the older principle. This is what had hap- 
pened in Derryfield in the closing years of the eighteenth cen- 
tury and the first quarter of the nineteenth. The town in 
its civil capacity gradually cast off all responsibility for the 
maintenance of the church. It left the church to the fate of 
the voluntary principle. And the church had life enough in it 
left to organize itself in accordance with the demands of that 
principle. Here is sufficient proof that the old church at Der- 
ryfield had not ceased to exist. It had not died. The men who 
had striven in vain to uphold the claim of religion to the town's 
support constituted the church that had been and that was 
to be. AA^ien it l)ecame apparent that they could no longer 
hope for material aid from the town, they had recourse only to 
the organization of a voluntary corporation for the purpose. In 
the very beginning of this century, the New Hampshire Mis- 
sionary Society had been organized. Its chief task had been 
to provide for the religious destitution that followed the dis- 



THE TRANSITION. 61 

establishment of the churches. This organization did more 
than any other institution to awaken the slumbering churches. 
It helped them to adjust themselves to the voluntary prin- 
cipk% and cared for the weaker ones while they passed through 
the transition. This was the service it performed for the old 
church of Manchester. In Februar}', 18,28, Eev. William K. 
Talbot began a four weeks' "mission" in Manchester, It was 
during this mission that ''^Joseph Moor, Daniel Watts, Samuel 
Hall and others'' met at the old meetinghouse of Derryfieid 
(Manchester since 1810) and "formed themselves into a Ee- 
ligious Society Known by the name of the first Presbyterian 
Eeligious Society in Manchester, X. H." The minutes of that 
meeting in the handwriting of the secretary, Amos Weston, 
Jr., are preserved in the first record book of the First Congre- 
gational Society. The First Presbyterian Society of Manches- 
ter, by absorption with the First Congregational Society of 
Amoskeag, passed into the First Congregational Society of this 
city, and these records have been in its continuous possession to 
this day. They are the oldest records of any religious society 
within the present limits of Manchester, the records of the 
church in the old Derryfieid days being a part of the old town 
records in the possession of the clerk of the city of Manchester. 
The old Presbyterian church of Derryfieid survived suffi- 
ciently to organize itself in harmony with the new princijole 
and in accordance with the provisions of the act of the legis- 
lature passed in 1827. It made no change in its faith or its 
ecclesiastical polity. It declares that "the object of this asso- 
ciation is to support and enjoy more effectually the Institu- 
tions of our Holy Eeligion." They had not been destitute 
of church worship. A church is a company of believers. 
Such a company had existed in Derryfield-Manchester from 



62 TO IV N CIIUR CH HIS TOR Y. 

the incorporation of the toAvn. It had supported and enjoyed 
religions worship more or less, with frequent interims during 
that time. In the meantime, a religious revival had swept 
over the country. It was a revival that began with the G-reat 
Awakening under Jonathan Edwards at Northampton. The 
tide of this revival had been swelled to overflow by the match- 
less evangelistic eloquence of George Whitefield. His last ser- 
mon had been preached at Exeter, on Saturday, September 
29, 1770. 

'^Sir,^^ said Mr. Clarkson, "you are more fit to go to bed 
than to preach." 

"True, sir," said Whitefield. But turning aside he clasped 
his hands, and looking up, said: 

"Lord Jesus, I am weary in thy work, but not of thy work. 
If I have not yet finished my course, let me go and speak for 
thee once more in the field, seal thy truth and come home and 
die." 

So he did. His bones are resting at the mouth of our own 
Merrimac, underneath the pulpit of the old church in New- 
buryport. It was Whitefield, Edwards, and others, with their 
apostolic earnestness, who had fanned the dying embers of 
ecclesiasticism into flame and had enabled the church to sur- 
vive the severe period of reconstruction when it was first 
called upon to maintain itself by the voluntary principle. The 
evangelistic ferver of these men was the most potent religious 
influence in this country during at least the first half of the 
nineteenth century. It more or less affected every town and 
hamlet in the whole land. It was the wave that lifted the 
church from the sandbar of disestablishment and non-support. 
It was a feeble wave in some parts. It had well nigh spent 
its force before it reached Derryfield-Manchester. But it 



THE TRANSITION. 65 

reached us, and it was just sufficient to lift our bark from the 
bar. It did for us what it did for other towns where the 
church had been previously supported by town tax but was 
compelled henceforth to provide for its support by the volun- 
tary principle. What happened here in Manchester happened 
also in every other old, established parish in the country. 
The church that had been supported by the town was com- 
pelled to organize itself for its support by other methods. 
The neighboring church at East Derry dates its history legiti- 
mately from the organization of the town with the settle- 
ment of the Scotch-Irish colony in 1719. It has been com- 
pelled to readjust itself to the new principle. It has at times 
been pastorless, and without the privileges of regular worship, 
but its history has been continuous from the time the little 
colony resolved by vote to support the preaching of the gospel, 
and the Eev. James MacGregor began his labors underneath 
the old oak. In fact, the church antedated the preaching, for 
it was the church that called the minister. The church in 
those days was the town acting in a religious capacity. It was 
not long after the da3's when the civil suffrage was limited to 
church membership. The colony that settled Concord in 173U 
became incorporated into a town and as such provided for 
the preaching of the gospel and the maintenance of the min- 
istry. That old town church of Concord still survives in the 
First Congregational Church of that city, which correctly dates 
its organization from 1730. The old town church of Derry- 
iield, dating from 1751, having survived as the First Presby- 
terian Church and Society of Manchester, organized in con- 
formity with the voluntary principle in 1828, still survives in 
the First Congregational Church and Society of Manchester. 
By the same method of reckoning by which the church in 



^4 TO WN CHURCH HISTOR V. 

Plymouth^ Mass., dates from 1606, the First Congregational 
Churcli of Manchester dates from 1751. If it be said that for 
several years after 1751 there was no meetinghouse in Derry- 
field, we may also reply that for a longer period after 1606 the 
Church of the Pilgrimage had no meetinghouse, and they 
had no resident minister for several years after the landing. 

The first church of the white race that ever took visible 
form on territory within the present limits of Manchester was, 
as already related, the old church of Tyngstown. But as the 
colony that organized Tyng's Township was expelled from its 
territorial claim, their church ceased to exist in this commu- 
nity. But this was not the case with the church in Derryfield. 
The church was coexistent with the town. The town re- 
mained, and the church remained with it. The names most 
familiar among the founders of Derryfield are the names that 
are signed to the constitution of the First Presbyterian Ee- 
ligious Society of 1828. The most prominent names in the 
records of old Derryfield are those of Hall and Stark and Goffe. 
They were the most prominent names in the ecclesiastical 
affairs of Derrj^field. The Goffes had moved to Bedford. So 
when we turn to the records of the First Presbyterian Church 
and Society in 1828, the names that are the most prominent 
are the old names of Hall and Stark, with many other names 
almost equally prominent or venerable — like those of Gamble, 
Blodgett, Moor, Noyes, Griffin, Harvey, Emerson, Greeley, 
Young, Dickey, Davis, and others. 

Samuel Hall, grandson of the John Hall who obtained from 
George II the incorporation of Derryfield, was one of the three 
men who met "with others" to form themselves into "a Ee- 
ligious Society'^ in 1828. He was the first vice-president of this 
society. Two brothers, Daniel and John, were also among the 



THE TRANSITION. 65 

first signers of the constitution of the society. The last men- 
tioned of the three was not the John Hall, Jr., who in 1793 
had purchased pew ground No. 13 in the gallery of the meet- 
inghouse. An interesting proof that the Presbyterian Society 
was really a continuation of the town church of Manchester in 
its effort to adjust itself to the principle of disestablishment, 
seems to appear in the minutes of a meeting of this society 
"holden at the old meetinghouse" Saturday, May 21, 1831. It 
was voted at that meeting "that Moses Noyes be authorized to 
receive of the Town Treasurer all money or monies that may 
be in his hands due to or belonging to the aforesaid Society." 
This is the link by which the church of 1828 is found to be still 
united to the old town church of Derryfield. The continuity 
is established. The old town church of Derryfield, which be- 
came a fact when the town was incorporated in 1751 and the 
vote was passed to raise twenty-four pounds for the preaching 
of the gospel, has had a disturbed, but continuous history. 
From the old town church of Presbyterian affiliation it passed 
in 1828 into the First Presbyterian Church and Society of 
Manchester. From the First Presbyterian Church and Society 
of Manchester it passed in 1839 into the present First Congre- 
gational Church and Society of Manchester. 

The change in denomination is only apparent, for at that 
time the Congregational and Presbyterian churches of Xew 
Hampshire were one denomination. They were united in the 
Xew Hampshire Missionary Society, and were bound together 
in the same ecclesiastical organizations, as they continue to be 
even to this day. The Congregational and Presbyterian min- 
isters of this region have, from the early history of the 
churches in these parts, been united in the Derry Association. 
The Hillsborough Association of Congregational and Presby- 



-66 TO IV N CHUR CH HIS TOR Y. 

terian Churches is the local ecclesiastical body for the churches 
of both denominations in the county, and the churches of both 
denominations are entitled to like representation in the state 
association. The Congregational and Presbyterian churches 
are one religious body within the limits of New Hampshire. 
They have since the early history of the state been bound to- 
gether by an Organic bond. It is only when they go outside 
of the state or when they carry their ecclesiastical relations 
outside of the state, that they become two separate denomina- 
tions. Within the limits of New Hampshire they are tradi- 
tionally and organically one. There have appeared in recent 
years unfortunate signs of a breaking away from this grand 
old traditional union. They have been due to the advent of 
ministers and laymen from outside the state, where Presbyte- 
rian and Congregational churches were supposed to have no 
more to do with each other tha,n Baptists and Methodists. 

Whoever would correctly understand the ecclesiastical his- 
tory of New Hampshire, or of New England for that matter, 
must remember that Congregationalism and Presbyterianism 
historically, stand for the same great facts and principles. As 
far as ecclesiastical polity is concerned, there are really but 
two fundamental theories. By one of these theories the eccle- 
siastical unit is the bishop. Its maxim is: Nullus episcopus, 
nulla ecdesia. Where there is no bishop there is no church. 
This is the theory of the Eoman and Anglican churches. We 
may call it the episcopal theory. By the second of these the- 
ories the congregation of believers is the ecclesiastical unit. 
Wherever there is a congregation of Christian believers, what- 
ever their officers may be, whether bishops, presbyters, minis- 
ters, or neither, there is a church. And where there is no con- 
gregation there is no church. Nulla congregatio, nulla ecdesia. 



THE TRANSITION. 67 

This may be called the Congregational theor}' of the church. 
It is held hy nearly all the religious bodies in this country and 
in the Protestant state churches in Scotland and on the conti- 
nent of Europe. It was in support of this theory and in protest 
against, the hierarchical theory that the battles of the Eeforma- 
tion were fought. It never made its conquest of the church 
of England complete. It was the effort to do so that aroused 
the Puritans to the heroic struggles of the seventeenth century. 
The sturdiest blows to unrivet the episcopal theory of the 
church from the religious establishment of England were de- 
livered by the Presbyterians of Scotland. They were power- 
fully seconded by the Independents, or Congregationalists, of 
England. Their purpose was to deliver 'the church and the 
kingdom of England from the Lauds and the Wentworths, 
and in order to do that they must deliver it from the episcopal 
principle. They succeeded; and for one brief period the estab- 
lished Church of England was Presbyterian. The bishops 
were overthrown and the congregation became the unit of 
the ecclesiastical organism. If Eichard had been Oliver it 
would have remained so to this day. In New Hampshire, 
therefore, the differences of denomination were solely differ- 
ences of race. The settlements from Massachusetts were Con- 
gregationalists. The Congregational church was the town 
church. There was no other church. There was not much 
denominational fastidiousness in those days. One church for 
the town was enough, and it usually received what for that 
day w^as a handsome support. The Scotch-Irish were Presby- 
terians. The Presbyterian church therefore was, as a matter 
of course, the established church of their towns. So in Lon- 
donderry, Bedford, Derryfield, the town church was Presby- 
terian. But there was nothing said about denomination. The 



68 TO I VN CHUR CH HIS TOR Y. 

denominational bugaboo had not A^et come to overawe tlie- 
ecclesiastical conscience of America. They had ''rising fam- 
eleys," and wanted a church — a real churchy orthodox and 
regular. Beyond that they made no childish demands. Their 
concern was not the individualistic concern — every man for his 
own souFs salvation — which has been a chief cause of the 
multii^lication of denominations. It was the concern for the 
Christian welfare of the community and its rising children. 
To them a churcli was a church, so long as it was neither 
Eoman Catholic nor Episcopal. When the Presbyterian. 
Church of Manchester, therefore, united with the CongTega- 
tional Church of Amoskeag to form the First Congregational 
Church of Manchester, it made no real change in its creed or 
afhliations. It had been for some 3Tars more or less associated 
with the church in Amoskeag in support of a common ministry 
and was a ward of the same missionary society. The history 
of these churches is like two streams that rise from different 
mountains, and flow through different valleys until they mingle 
their waters in one common channel. The stream that started 
in Derryfield one hundred and fifty-two years ago and the 
one that started in Amoskeag seventy-five years ago followed 
winding courses through sluggish swamps where scarcely any 
current could be detected, until they united in the one chan- 
nel in 1839. From that day the united stream has flowed 
onward v.'ith a strono- current and an increasing volume. 



IX. 

THE NEW OEGANIZATION. 



'•1828 ^Iarc]i 2nd Joseph Moor, Daniel Watts, Sanniel Hall 
and oihers met and formed themselves into a Eeligioiis Society 
Known by the name of the first Presbyterian Eeligious Soci- 
ity in Manchester, N. H. and adopted a constitution which is 
here nnto annexed. The Society then proceeded to the choice 
of a Secretary, and Amos Weston, Jr., was elected to that 
ofldce. 

'•Recorded by Amos Weston, Jr., Clerk." 

This is the oldest record on the books of the First Congre- 
gational Society of Manchester. All earlier records of trans- 
actions in the history of the church are to be found in 
the records in the office of the clerk of the city of Man- 
chester, and belong to the days when the church and the 
town weie united. This is the oldest record of any religious 
organization in Manchester since the civil union between the 
church and the town was dissolved. And since the date of 
that action the records have been continuous until now. The 
minutes of every meeting and apparently of every vote of the 
society are to be found in one of the four books in which the 
society's proceedings have been recorded up to the present 
time. In the preamble to the constitution it is stated that 
*'the object of this association is to support and enjoy more 

69 



70 TO IVN CHUR CH HIS TOR Y. 

effectually the Institutions of our Holy Keligion. Our belief 
is in the reality of Divine Eevelation. Our desire is to know 
its truths; zealously to maintain them is our fixed purpose; we 
unite in the fear of God; for success our hope is only in the 
riches of his mercy. . . . Banishing party feelings and sec- 
tarian ])rejudices from our heai'ts and praying for Divine 
assistance, and mutual affection and love for the truth and a 
holy concern for our best interests, we unite for the further- 
ance of our object under the following constitution." 

This preamljle remains practically unchanged through the 
later revisions of the constitution, and the articles are still 
substantially what they were in 1828, even to phraseology. 
Article YII of the original constitution is interesting as show- 
ing the effect on the new corporation of the long civil connec- 
tion with the town. It declares that — 

"This Society shall be empowered at any regular meeting- for 
the purpose, by a vote of two thirds of the Members present, to 
raise any snm of money they may think proper by levying a 
direct tax on each member in proportion to his property, and 
according as he is taxed or rated by the Town authoritj^ in which 
Town he lives."' 

This clause in the constitution marks the transition from 
the days of town support to the era of the voluntary principle. 
Another article of the constitution declared that — 

"This Society shall devote their funds to the support of no min- 
ister of the Gospel who Shall not receive either the approbation 
of the Londonderry Presbytery, or the Trustees of the New 
HamjDshire Missionarj^ Society." 

The New Hampshire Missionary Society is now a Con- 
gregational body, and was chiefly so then. 



THE NEW ORGANIZATION. 71 

The fact that the Presbyterian Society of Manchester was 
willing to trust the Congregational eqiially with the Presby- 
terian authorities for direction in the support of a minister, 
illustrates the cordial relations on which the two churches have 
traditionally dwelt. The first signers of the constitution were 
Amos Weston, Jr., Josej^h Moor, Daniel AYatts, Samuel Hall, 
John Pay, Thomas Cheney, James McQueston, James Ray, 
Daniel Hall, Johnson Morse, Jonas Harvey, Isaac Blodgett, 
Jacob Whittemore, Samuel Gamble, John Calef, Pranklin 
Moor, John Hall, Moses Noyes, Robert P. AVliittemore. 

The first meeting after the adoption of the constitution was 
held in the old meetinghouse March 26, 1828. Daniel Watts, 
Samuel Hall, and Amos Weston, Jr., were appointed a com- 
mittee "to procure a minister to preach so much as shall be 
denied expedient by the Society." Franklin Moor was sec- 
retary at this meeting. 

The following subscription paper was immediately circulated 
by the committee: 

"'We the Subscribers agree to pay the Treasurer of the 
Presbyterian Society of Manchester annually the sums perfixed 
to our names, for the space of three years, for the support of 
the Ministry provided that a sufficient subscription is obtained 
to furnish the Society with as much preaching as one or two 
Sabbaths in each Month for that time. The above to be paid 
in Semianual payments, first to be on the 1 of Sept. 1828." 

There are forty-four names on this subscription list. The 
amounts subscribed ranged from one five-dollar annual sub- 
scription by Joseph Moor to one twenty-five-cent subscription. 
Judging by the original list signed by the subscribers them- 
selves, the total amount subscribed was about sixty dollars. 
Appended to this are the names of twelve ministers, each of 



72 TO WN CHURCH HI ST OR Y. 

whom offers to contribute one Sabbath^s preaching on condi- 
tion that the local parish subscribe for ten Sabbaths. These 
ministers are William K. Talbot, Thomas Savage, Ephraiin P. 
Bradford, E. L. Parker, D. McGregore, John M. Whiton, Abel 
Manning, Jonathan Brown, Stephen Morse, William Whitte- 
more, Henry Wood, and Leonard Jewett. All of these names, 
excejjt that of Mr. Talbot, are written with lead pencil, and 
some of them are almost illegible. 

In the month of May we find the Eev. William K. Talbot on 
the ground and the religious interest of the people markedly 
awakened. A letter of his addressed to the trustees of the K'ew 
Hampshire Missionary Society has been preserved among the 
papers of that society. To the citizens of Manchester it is 
an interesting and valuable document. It is perhaps the oldest 
extant epistolary account of the religious condition of Man- 
chester. 

"On my entering Manchester,^^ says he, "I found the re- 
ligious state of things truly deplorable. The meeting house 
which was old and shattered, w^ithout a Bible or a Hymn book, 
and would not shield from storm, was forsaken.'' 

The old meetinghouse had not improved with age, and it 
was twenty-four years older than when the Eev. William 
Pickles had told his hearers that if they didn't repair the 
house the devil would come and carry them out at the cracks. 
Mr. Talbot's letter further informs us that "the Methodist 
brethren were preaching a part of the time to a very few." 
Their meetings were held in a private house. "In answer to 
my enquiries respecting the religious state of things, the ]\Ieth- 
odist who preached there once in four weeks told me they had 
almost become discouraged (having labored there eight or nine 
years); that the last year they had serious thoughts of leaving 



THE NEW OKGANIZATIOX. 73 

the Town; and should the next year, should the Congregation- 
alists or Presbyterians afford them preaching; that they knew 
not of one anxious sinner in the Town/' Where Methodists 
get discouraged and despair in the search for an "anxious 
sinner/"' it is safe to conclude that the situation is desperate 
enough. Mr. Talbot's letter, however, throws a stream of 
hope on the situation. 

"The first week I endeavored to awaken them to the im- 
portance of having the preached Gospel. The second week 
I found some souls had been awakened, and many had become 
anxious for the stated preached word. But the enquiry was 
^What can so few as are willing to do do alone?' I encouraged 
them to hope for assistance provided they would do all in 
their power, and we organized a Religious Society which en- 
gaged to employ no minister who should not gain the appro- 
bation of the Londonderry Presb. or Trustees of the New 
Hamp. ]\liss. Soc. The third Sabbath it was evident the Lord 
had begun a vrork of grace in the Town. Some were rejoicing 
in hope and others were inquiring what they should do to be 
saved. Some of my Church [at Nottingham] had visited the 
place and assisted me in the good work. Others were desirous 
of accompanying me, as on those days my own people were 
destitute except such as attended. After consulting my Ses- 
sion I concluded to invite my Elders and Church to attend at 
Manchester, as I would break bread to them there on the next 
Lord's day. This was peculiarly gratifying to some Church 
members residing in Manchester as well as my own Church. 
AVe attended, and tho' the day was very unfavorable we had 
a Crowded and solemn assembly. Some who had been bap- 
tized and were pious, after a satisfactory examination, which 
was voted sustained by the Session, were permitted to come 



74 TOWN CHURCH HISTORY. 

to the Table. The Lord set his seal to the services & great was 
the effect. Souls were awakened & converted & a mighty im- 
pulse was given; & Christians went on in the work of dut}^ with 
fresh courage. A Council was called as soon as possible & a 
church of [blank] was organized, which has since increased 
to about 30." Mr. Talbot goes on to say that they have since 
hired a young man from ilndover three weeks and himself 
four weeks. "And during all this time very few sermons if 
any have been preached which some soul can not date his 
first awakening or conversion from." He tells us that they 
had formed a religious library and tract society and a Sabbath 
school. He reports that the people of Manchester earnestly 
request him "'to implore some further aid." He speaks of 
their uncommon and ardent efforts, and closes his letter with a 
gracious compliment to the people of Manchester which ought 
even now to strike a tender response from the chords of our 
hearts. He says: 

"The respectable & affectionate reception I have universally 
met with from that people, gives me very elevated views of 
their character. Xor do I know of any place more deserving 
the attention of Xew Hamp. Miss. Soc."* His letter, written 
in a free, manly hand, is in a good state of preservation. I 
have handled it with care, with my mind on the historian un- 
born who may be pleased to read it a hundred years from now. 

The organization of the church of which Mr. Talbot speaks 
was solemnized by an ecclesiastical council held May 21, 1828. 
The vote by which this council was called was taken "at a 
meeting regularly assembled at the Hall of Mr. Jackson's and 

* Talbot's letter was written at Nottingham West August 5, 1828, and was 
mailed at HoUis, N.H., August 6. It was folded into envelope form and 
sealed with wax. It was not stamped, the number 10 in the top right-hand 
corner, written in red ink, indicating the amount of postage. The postmark 
was also written in red ink. 



THE NEW ORGANIZATION. 75 

opened witli prayer by the Rev. William K. Talbot Mod." 
This meeting was held in April. It was unanimously voted 
that a council be invited to assemble in the old meetinghouse 
"on the third Wednesday in May next to organize all such as 
give evidence of personal piety in this place and who are 
solicitous for the same into a regular Christian Church." The 
churches invited were those of Goifstown, Pembroke, Hook- 
sett, Bedford, Dunbarton, New Boston, Litchfield, Derry, Lon- 
donderry, Nottingham West, Dracut, and the Bedford-street 
church in Boston. The letter missive is signed by Daniel 
Watts, Jacob Whittemore, Polly Watts, Rheni Gillis, Abby 
Stark, Betsey Hall, Sarah Davis, Lucy Ray, Elizabeth Stark, 
Mary Clark, Abigail Gillis, and Sarali Stark. 

The council convened at the meetinghouse on the date 
named. The clerical members of the council were Abraham 
Burnham, William K. Talbot, Thomas Savage, Sylvester G. 
Pierce, Henry Wood, and Stephen Morse. The lay members 
were Daniel Knox of Pembroke, John M. Bartley of Notting- 
ham West, David McQueston of Bedford, Thomas Smith of 
Goffstown, Joseph Chase, and Joseph Long. After due delib- 
eration the council proceeded to organize the church with a 
membership of eight persons. Li the "solemnities" that fol- 
lowed, Mr. Burnham made the introductory prayer, Mr. Pierce 
preached the sermon, Mr. Savage read the covenant and pro- 
nounced the organization complete, Mr. Talbot gave them the 
right hand of fellowship, and Mr. Wood made the concluding 
prayer. Mr. Talbot was chosen moderator, and Daniel Watts 
clerk of the newly organized, or perhaps we should say reorgan- 
ized, church. The church was left free by the council to 
chose what form of government it pleased. As it had always 
been Presljvterian under the town, altliough no hard and fast 



76 TOWN CHURCH HISTORY. 

lines were drawn, so it continued to be; and it "voted to adopt 
the Presbyterian form of Chnrch government/' and Daniel 
Watts was appointed to meet the Londonderry Presbytery to 
apply for admission. The church grew in a few weeks till 
it numbered thirty members. Additions came slowly after 
that time. In October, 1829, Moses Noyes, with his wife and 
daughter, were received by letter from Newport. In 1829 
the church received fifty-five dollars from the Xew Hampshire 
Missionary Society "to be laid out by Eev, Dr. Church" of 
Pelham. In the same year the parish in Manchester gave 
five dollars and twenty-five cents to the Missionary Society. 
In September, 1830, Rev. Josiah Prentice reports thirty-five 
members, a good interest, enquiring minds, and gratitude for 
the privileges of worship. He spent four weeks with the 
church, for which he received twenty-eight dollars. He tells 
us that a man one hundred years old died in the town while 
he was present. That unnamed man had lived through stir- 
ring times. 

In March, 1832, Benjamin Franklin Foster, a licentiate, 
employed partially by the Home Missionary Society, was en- 
gaged to serve the two churches in Manchester and Amoskeag. 
His report is not very encouraging. Speaking of both places 
he says that "religion is low and a refreshing from the pres- 
ence of the Lord is exceedingly desirable." On the 20t]i of 
the following January the church met at Gilbert Greeley's and 
voted to call a council for the ordination of Mr. Foster. The 
council convened at the home of Deacon N'oyes, and after the 
examination held the public exercises of ordination in the 
newly built Methodist meetinghouse. From this time until 
1839 the career of the Manchester church is on a descending 
scale. It never had more than thirty-eight members at one 



THE NEW ORGANIZATION. 77 

time. The churches at Amoskeag and Manchester were so 
near together that when they had alternate services they at- 
tended each other's churches in considerable numbers. Xo 
records of the ]\Ianchester church later than 1833 have been 
preserved. But the records of the Presbyterian Society in 
Manchester are complete up to March 29, 1837. This was 
apparently their last annual meeting, and one year later we 
find the First Congregational Society of x4moskeag incorpo- 
rated with practically the same constitution. It is this society 
that interests us henceforth. Though officered by other men, 
it absorbed the remnants of the society at Manchester. The 
last officers of the Manchester society were Moses Noyes, pres- 
ident; Amos AVeston, Jr., clerk; Daniel Hall, vice-president; 
John M. Xoyes, Joseph M. Eowell, and Thomas Cheney, di- 
rectors. We have now followed the Derryfield-Manchester 
stream from its source in the middle of the eighteenth century 
to the point of its union with the stream from xlmoskeag. We 
shall now cross over to the head waters of the stream from 
Amoskeao'. 



X. 

THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AT AMOSKEAG. 



Of the two streams that united in the First Congregational 
Church in 1839 the one that had its spring in Amoskeag was 
the younger but the stronger. It was the dominant force in 
determining the direction of the current of the united church. 
It was blessed in the possession of a few strong men, the in- 
fluence of whose Christian personality is still a. potent factor 
in our church life. This can hardly be said of the Presby- 
terian branch. Deacon Moses Noyes appears to have been 
the only man among them whose personality exerted much 
influence on the church after the union. 

Facts concerning the religious history of Amoskeag previous 
to the organization of the church are very meager. Congre- 
gational preaching had been heard in Amoskeag at least as 
early as 1825-26. The Eev. Henry Wood, pastor of the Goffs- 
town church, held occasional services in the home of Colonel 
Farmer, and ^^a sainted man named Eand living near the 
McGregor place, held meetings in the schoolhouse." This in- 
formation comes from Dr. Wallace, who spent eight months in 
Amoskeag in 1826 as a laborer. He was twenty-one years old 
at the time. It was five years before his conversion, and he 
had no thought of ever being the minister of the church 
which was to be organized there, two years later. He had had 

7S 





f V 



CONG REG A TIOXAL CHURCH A T AMOSKEAG. 79 

his first sight of Amoskeag the year before, when he passed 
through on his way to Concord to assist in doing escort duty 
to General Lafayette. He tells lis that "a large number of 
.those who attended the meetings at 'Skeag at this time would 
retire to an adjoining hall at intermission and drink liquor/" 

The Congregational Church of Amoskeag was organized 
December 2, 1828, at the home of Col. Daniel Farmer, still 
occupied by his daughter, Elizabeth A. Farmer. An ecclesias- 
tical council had been called "for the purpose of organizing an 
orthodox congregational church." The council was organized 
with Walter Harris, D. D., of Dunbarton as moderator, the Eey. 
S. H. Tolman of Dunstable as scribe. John Hubbard Church, 
D. D., of Pelham, who was at that time president of the Xew 
Hampshire Missionary Society, invoked the divine blessing. 
Henry Woods of Goffstown and Daniel Lancaster of Windham 
were the other clerical members of the council. The church 
in Pembroke was represented by Deacons Joseph Gale and 
Moses Hazelton. The articles of faith and form of covenant 
were approved, and the church was constituted with ten origi- 
nal members, one of whom, Mr. Stephen Atwood, was examined 
by the council as to his religious experience, and received 
on the public profession of his faith. Those who were re- 
ceived by letters from other churches were Col. Daniel and 
Mrs. Betsy Farmer, from Goffstown; Mr. James X. and ]\Irs. 
Lucy Davidson, from Windham; Mr. Gilman Knowlton, from 
Hopkinton; Mr. Enoch P. Sargent and Mr. Alonzo Dinsmore, 
from Goffstown; ]\Iiss Catharine French, from Dunstable, and 
Miss Sarah Davis, from Chester, west parish. At the public 
services the sermon was preached by Dr. Church, the consecra- 
ting prayer was offered by Dr. Harris, and the right hand of fel- 
low^ship was extended by Mr. Woods. The report of the coun- 



80 TO IVN CHURCH HI ST OR Y. 

cil declares that "tlie clnircli was accordingly formed as the 
Congregational Church of Christ at Amoskeag." The con- 
fession of faith of the Amoskeag church was the extreme of 
conservative orthodoxy even for that day. Two of the articles 
exhibit in all their lurid colors the awful theories which at that 
time seemed to furnish the Unitarians and Universalists with 
an effectual reason for their existence. Here is the last article 
in the creed: 

"You believe there will be a resurrection of all the dead, the 
just and the unjust, the small and the great, and a tinal judgment, 
when the Lord Jesus Christ shall judge the world, and receive 
the righteous into his everlasting Kingdom, and sentence the 
%vicked to endless punishment. Do you thus believe?" 

This is an excellent and improved method for the manufac- 
ture of Universalists. If any better method has ever been 
proposed it has not been reported. The conception of the 
Lord Jesus Christ as the judge who comes to sentence the 
wicked to endless punishment may have some elements of 
truth in it which only eternity can reveal, but it is very safe 
to say that it is an unedifying picture, and one which so little 
resembles the picture of our Lord which we get from the gos- 
pels that we are compelled to reject it as a caricature. This* 
article and another referring to the effect of Adam's fall on his 
descendants were subsequently greatly altered. The alteration 
might with profit have been carried still further. Much of 
the old phraseology, however, which was adopted seventy-five 
years ago in the parlors of Colonel Farmer's home has remained 
in the confession of faith. Colonel Farmer was born in Goffs- 
town in 1783-. He had joined the church there when a young 
man. In 1823 he had built the house which is still in the 
family possession and in which the church was organized. 



CONG RE GA TIONAL CHURCH A T AMOSKEA G. 81 

This house became the "minister's tavern." He was a man 
of strong Christian personality. He was the father of the 
church in Amoskeag and it was due to his effective initiative 
that the consolidation between the two churclies was brought 
about and the consolidated church planted in the growing 
village which was in time to become the heart of the city of 
Manchester. He is said to have been "an active, earnest man 
with a strong will." And it is intimated that this fact ac- 
counts in some measure for the result by which the consol- 
idated church became Congregational rather than Presbyterian. 
He was one of the wealthy men of the community and led in 
the financial support of the church. 

Nevertheless, the little church in Amoskeag had an uphill 
course. It never had a settled minister, nor a building of its 
own. Dr. Oliver Dean was at that time agent of the Amos- 
keag Company. He was an earnest Universalist, and it was 
by his efforts that Universalist services were started in Amos- 
keag in 1825. Under his agency a hall was built on what is 
now Amoskeag street, to afford a place where religious services 
might be held. The down-stairs part was used as a store, 
while the hall above was open to Christian churches of any 
denomination. This hall served as the home of the Congrega- 
tional, Baptist, and Universalist churches. The Congrega- 
tional and Baptist churches each had it one quarter of the 
time and the Universalists one half tlie time. Allien it burned 
down in 1839, the Congregational church held its services in 
the schoolhouse, the little building which is now used as a 
hose house. This little schoolhouse had been painted by a 
young man named Cyrus W. Wallace in 1826. There was no 
bridge then over the Amoskeag Falls, but so destitute of re- 
ligious privileges was the neighboring part of Manchester that 



82 TO WN CHUR CH HIS TOR V. 

a considerable portion of the congregation was composed of 
people who crossed the river from the east side by stepping or 
jnniping from rock to rock, or by walking on planks where the 
spaces were too wide. We have members still, among whom 
are Miss Betsy Butler Shepherd and Mrs. Bradbury Poor 
Cilley, who can well remember when they leaped from rock 
to rock on their way to worship in Amoskeag. 

"When thou passest through the waters, 

I will be with thee; 
And through the rivers, 

They shall not overflow thee." 

The first annual meeting of the church was held December 
15, 1828, thirteen days after its organization. Gilman Knowl- 
ton was elected moderator for one year, and James N. David- 
son clerk. On the 18th of the following February "the 
Church convened at House of James N. Davidson for purpos 
of Chosing two Deacons. Voted by ballot. Col. Daniel Far- 
mer and James N. Davidson were chosen.^' This is the brief 
and sole account of the meetinsf. In this same February and 
probably at this meeting Mr. Talbot was with the church and 
baptized two adults, George and Hannah E. Blake. These 
were the first baptisms after the organization of the church. It 
is interesting and prophetic that their first officiating minister 
is the same man who had awakened the slumbering Presby- 
terian church of Manchester. The next record bears the date 
of June, 1829, and states that the Eev. Abraham Burnham of 
Pembroke, a great uncle of Senator Henry E. Burnham, bap- 
tized one adult and seven children. Six of the children be- 
longed to Stephen Atwood, the first person who had joined 
the church by public profession of faith. 



CONG RE GA TIONA L CHUR CH AT A MOSKEA G. 83 

In 1831 it became apparent that the church could not main- 
tain itself in vigor without assistance. In that year the fol- 
lowing appeal for aid was made: 

"To the Xew Hampshire Missionary Society. 

"Gentlemen and Friends of Zion: 

"We the subscribers and elders of the Congregational Church 
in Amoskeag- are sheep without a Shepard and feeling anxious 
to have a man after God's own heart to go in and out before us, 
and break unto us the bread of life, and having made considerable 
efforts to raise subscriptions to support a Minister, find we must 
fail unless assisted from some other source, we now lay our 
care before you praying that you will afford such help as* will 
enable us to have the preached word. 

"Daniel Farmee. 
"James N. Davidsons-. 

"Amoskeag Sep't 5, 1831." 

This letter reflects the greatest honor on the church and the 
men who wrote it. They had tried to sustain themselves 
alone, and had felt considerable pride in the hope that they 
would be able to do it. They had in the previous year sent in 
a small contribution to the Missionary Society. They shrank 
now from the necessity of asking for aid, but they shrank more 
from the thought of a godless community. They found they 
''must fail unless assisted from some other source." They 
put their pride in their pockets and wrote this earnest, manly 
letter. The church that claims their feeble efforts as a pre- 
cious legacy may well be proud of this letter. The letter was 
accompanied by a subscription list amounting to $228.50, and 
a postscript saying that "probably 25 or 30 dollars more may 
be had from the females working in the factories." The sub- 
scription list was headed with the following statement: 



84 TO WN CHURCH HI ST OR Y. 

"We the iindersignecl under consideration of the benefit 
which may be derived from the stated and constant administra- 
tion of the preached word in this vicinity, promise to pay the 
snms set against onr names for the purpos of supporting Rev'd 
Simeon Sanlsbery as our minister for the term of one year to 
preach at Amoskeag and Piscataquog [now known as West 
Manchester] and divide the time between the two places in 
such manner as may be thought best by the subscribers/' 
The subscribers represented l)oth villages, although the 
responsibility for the undertaking was borne by Colonel Far- 
mer- and James N. Davidson of Amoskeag. The subscriptions 
ranged from twenty dollars to one dollar. Singularly enough 
the largest subscription was made by Caleb Johnson, who was 
not connected with the church. Deacon Farmer, besides keep- 
ing "minister's tavern,"subscribed fifteen dollars. A like sum 
was subscribed by Daniel Mack of Piscataquog. Other large 
contributors were Robert Hall, James N". Davidson, James M. 
Clark, and Catharine French. The inhabitants of the village 
seem to have taken considerable interest in the proposal, as 
nearly one half of the whole amount was subscribed by per- 
sons "not members of any church." Nevertheless, the plan 
failed, and the Rev. Simeon Salisbury never became minister 
of the church. There is something almost pathetic in the 
numerous vain efforts the early fathers of this city made to 
obtain a resident minister. The right kind of men, however, 
were settled in other and more permanent pastorates, and. 
shrank from the hire of "one year" on the uncertainties of a 
sul)scription paper, in a parish without a meetinghouse or a 
parsonage. 

Until the year 1832 the church received no outside assist- 
ance. Such occasional preaching as it had, it paid for. In 



COXGRE GA TIONA L CH UR CI I AT A M OSKEA G. 85 

1830 it contributed three dollars to the Xew Hampshire Mis- 
sionary Society. Up to 1832 the church had at times received 
the ministrations of William K. Talbot, who was with the 
church immediately after its organization and with whom we 
are already acquainted, Abraham Burnham of Pembroke, at 
that time secretary of the Xew Hampshire Missionary Society, 
Dr. Church, and others. In March, 1832, Mr. Benjamin 
Franklin Foster, a missionary already mentioned, is employed 
to divide his time between the churches at Manchester and 
Amoskeag, and one hundred dollars is granted by the Mis- 
sionary Society to both churches. In the- first six months of 
his labors two members join the church at xA.moskeag and 
three at Manchester. The report he sends to his society is 
that an interesting Sunday school has been established, but that 
religion is very low. At the end of the year the church had 
twenty-two mem]:)ers, seven of which were males. A Sunday 
school is maintained during the "warm season'^ and a Bible 
class through the rest of the year. In 1831 the condition of 
the chuich and the community is discouraging. Mr. Samuel 
Harris. ;! missionary, received twenty-five dollars in that year 
from the Missionary Society for work in Amoskeag. The 
membership had fallen ofi", no new members had been added, 
and his disheartening report is that "little can be done here 
at present.^^ The situation remained unchanged for the bet- 
ter during the two following years. In 1836 Mr. H. L. Deane, 
a student in Andover Theological Seminary, puts in several 
weeks in Amoskeag in the employ of the Missionary Society. 
An interesting letter written l)y him under the heading 
"Amoskeag Tuesday 13 Sept. 1836*' and addressed to the 
secretary of the Xew Hampshire ^lissionary Society, has been 



86 TO WN CHUR CH HIS TOR \ '. 

preserved in good condition. It is at the close of his minis- 
try in Amoskeag, and he is to "take leave of this place to- 
morrow morning.'^ 

"Col. Farmer will settle with me for my services during the 
time I have labored here, at the rate of $7.00 per. sabbath, which, 
If I mistake not, was the sum agreed upon. In compliance with 
your request I saw brother Noble and the result of our interview 
w^as a promise on his j>art that he would come on & 'enter into my 
labors.' He will be here either the last of this week, or sometime 
in the course of next. In regard to the importance of sus- 
taining missionary operations here, I have but a word to say. If 
the Amoskeag Company g"o on, as it is expected thej' will, I 
should say, by all means let this feeble church be sustained. 
But if on the other hand the place is to remain in statu quo, I 
should feel it my duty before expending much time or money 
here, to enquire whether there are not other opening' fields which 
promise a more plentiful harvest. Since I came into the place, I 
have done but little, except to preach on the sabbath, and I have 
not done so much even at tJiat as I expected when I came here. 
I have had a third service but twice since I came. The truth is, 
they have their sabbath school at 4 o'clock, and a third service, 
coming on immediatel3' after finds them so fatigued that tliey 
will not turn out to meeting, or. if they condescend to do that, 
they appear so exhausted, and consequently restless, that it is 
truly i)ainful to preach to them." 

Consequently, after consulting Deacon Farmer and Eobert 
Hall, another prominent member of the church, Mr. Deane de- 
cided to omit what he called "the 3d service,^' which was really 
the second preaching service, the Sabbath school being then 
reckoned as the second service. Mr. N'oble served the church 
for some time. So also did Eev. Timothy Dwight Porter 
Stone, who was still preaching more than a half-century 
later. A young man by the name of French, who after- 



CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AT AMOSKEAG. 87 

wards Vent as a missionary to Siam, supplied the pulpit for a 
short time, and the church was again left without a shepherd. 
These young men were mostly theological students. In the 
spring of 1839 a young man stopped over night at Amoskeag 
at the home of an acquaintance. The term Amoskeag was 
then applied to hoth sides of the river. The home in which 
he was stopping in this case was on the east side. He was 
on his way to his home in Bedford. He held a license from 
the Londonderry Presbytery, the ink of which was hardly yet 
cold. He was the young man who had spent eight months 
in Amoskeag eleven years before. He was now thirty-four 
years old. His name was Cyrus Washington Wallace. In 
the course of the conversation with the family, his hostess, 
Mrs. Nahum Baldwin, asked him how he would like to be 
settled in the church at Amoskeag. This was the first sug- 
gestion of his connection with the parish which was to be the 
field of his thirty-three years' pastorate. Mrs. Baldwin's sug- 
gestion was effective. It was made good when her husband 
seconded it by an invitation to supply the pulpit. His first 
sermon was preached in the hall on Front street, which had 
been built by Dr. Dean. 

On a bright Sunday in the spring of 1839 Samuel D. Bell, 
afterwards chief justice of the New Hampshire Supreme 
Court, came into the house and said to his wife: 

"There is a young man going to preach over at Amoskeag 
this morning. Get ready and let us go over." 

It was an attractive invitation, and in a few minutes they 
were walking through the sand on their way to the river. 
Four times on the way was Mrs. Bell compelled to stop and 
empty the sand from her shoes. On reaching the hall where 
the service was held they found an interested group of men 



88 TO WN CHUR CH HIS TOR V. 

about the doors, a larger congregation than usnal on the 
benches, and a new face at the desk. It was to become per- 
haps the most familiar face in the city of Manchester for the 
next quarter of a century. It was the young licentiate from 
Bedford. 

"At the close of the sermon/' says Dr. Wallace, "we went 
to Col. Farmer's to dinner. At that meal I remember Col. 
Farmer remarked that his church was going to call a minister 
as soon as they got something to look at. The deacon said he 
wanted a man who could cut a double swath right straight 
through, . . . and I wish to leave it on record that Deacon 
Farmer was a man who could assist a minister in cutting a 
double swath." 



PART IV. 



THE UNION. 



THE PIEST CONGREGATIONAL CHUECH 
OF MANCHESTER. 



XL 

FOETY YEARS IN THE OLD CHURCH ON HANOYER 

STREET. 



"In the sinniiier of 1839 it became apparent that the inter- 
est of reh"gion demanded that the preaching of the gospel 
shonld he regrdarly established at the Xew Village in Man- 
chester. For the furtherance of snch a plan, and as the best 
means of accomplishing so desirable an object, it was thought 
expedient by the meml^ers of the Congregational Church at 
Amoskeag and also by many of the members of the Presby- 
terian Church at Manchester that a union of the two churches 
had better be efiected, and the Church thus constituted to be 
located in the new village at Manchester. Accordingly, at the 
request of many members of both the above named churches, 
letters were sent to several Ministers in the neighborhood to 
call a council of Clergymen to consider the feasibility of such 
a plan and if thought expedient, to effect the contemplated 
union.'' We find this statement of the motive which led to 
the union of tlie two churches in the first record book of the 
consolidated church, and written in the hand of Dr. Wallace 
at the close of the council which declared the union complete. 
We are glad also that this statement settles the fact that it was 
a union of the churches, and that neither of the churches 
ceased to exist nor lost its identity, but that the two churches, 

91 



92 rO WN CHUR CH HIS TOR \ \ 

like two streams, were merged liencefortli into one common 
channel. Xo vote of dissolution was taken by eitlier church 
in preparation for the union. That each church continued 
to exist up to the 15th of August, 1839, which was the day the 
council met to consummate the union, is shown by the record 
that the council w^as convened "by the mutual invitation of 
the Congregational Church in Amoskeag and the Presbyterian 
Churcli in Manchester." The council chosen "to consider the 
expediency of uniting the aforesaid churches assembled at 10 
o'clock, agreeable to request, at the home of Phineas French." 
The Eev. John H. Church, D. D., whom we met in the home 
of Colonel Farmer eleven years previously, was chosen moder- 
ator, with the Eev. P. B. Day scribe. The other clergymen 
present were Messrs. Burnham of Pembroke, Bradford of New 
Boston, Willey of Goffstown, and Cyrus W. Wallace, as a 
representative of the two uniting churches. It was Mr. Burn- 
ham who made the motion, so fraught with happy results, 
"to proceed to make the necessary arrangements to unite the 
Congregational Church in Amoskeag and the Presbyterian 
Church in Manchester provided the said churches shall renew 
their request in the afternoon." The council adjourned for 
its afternoon session to Franklin hall, a building that had 
recently been erected on Amherst street, standing in the rear 
of the site of the present opera house and owned by William 
Abbott. It was here that the last meetings of the two 
churches in their separate capacity were held. Their re- 
quest to be united was unanimous, for the record tells 
us that "agreeable to the unanimous request of the two 
churches, a union was effected." Henceforth they are no more 
twain, but one church. "What God hath joined together let 
never man put asunder." According to the ]\Ianual of 1875, 



FORTY YEARS IN THE OLD CHURCH. 93 

ecicli church gave fourteen members to the consolidation. 
Here they are: 

From Amoskeag: Deacon Daniel Farmer, Mrs. Daniel Far- 
mer, 3Ir. George Perry, Mrs. Mary C. Perr}-, Mr. Samnel Poor, 
Mrs. Samuel Poor, Mr. Xahnm Baldwin, Mrs. Nahum Bald- 
win, Mr. Henry Peacock, Mrs. Lettice McQueston (afterward 
Bunton), Miss Harriet Jones, Miss Betsey Flanders, Miss 
Catharine French, Mrs. Sarah Kimball. 

From Manchester: Dea. Moses ^oyes, Mrs. Moses Xoyes, 
Pobert P. Whittemore, Mrs. Robert P. Whittemore, Mrs. Jen- 
net Dickey, Mrs. Daniel Hall, Miss Sally Whittemore, Miss 
Eliza A. Moor, Mrs. Jerusha Griffin, Miss Maria Xoyes, Miss 
Elizabeth Stark, Miss Abby Stark, Mrs. F. G. Stark, Mr. 
Isaac Blodgett. 

It was this united church that proceeded to decide upon its 
iuture name. In this respect as in others, it acted upon the 
advice of the council. The record informs us that after the 
union was eifected ''the Church voted to adopt the name as 
recommended by the council by which they are hereafter to 
be known, viz.: The First Congregational Church of Amos- 
keag."' By the same recommendation they also adopted the 
articles of faith and covenant of the Amoskeag church. The 
impression might very naturally be gotten that when the 
Presbyterian Church of ^Manchester adopted the Congrega- 
tional name, it lost its identity and ceased to exist. But 
churches very frequently change their denominational names 
and character without losing their identity or breaking the 
continuity of their history. A very interesting proof that the 
old Presbyterian Church of Manchester continued to exist 
in the consolidated church is furnished by the following vote 
taken at a meeting held July 3. 1811 — nearly two years after 
Ihe union: 



94 TO WN CHUR CH I/IS TOR } . 

"On motion of Dea. Moses Xoj'es to withdraw Christian fellow- 
ship from Thomas Cheney, Josex^h Rowel, Samuel Gamble and 

Mrs. Hall, they being members of the Presbyterian Church 

of Manchester before its union with this Church, but who have 
refused to sign our covenant, or walk with us as becometh saints.'* 

The ehitrcli that passes this vote of exclusion is therefore 
the same church these delinquent members had joined at Man- 
chester Center, or this vote would have been meaningless. 

From the date of the union to the present, the ecclesiastical 
historian has clear sailing. Up to this point there are many 
intricacies, and the period so reuiote that the vision is uncer- 
tain and cloudy. The first meeting of the united church was 
held in Franklin hall August 15, 1839, at the close of the 
council wliich declared the union complete. Its first act was 
to receive eight persons into its membership. Two of them, 
Henry Lancaster and Capt. Hiram Brown, who joined with 
their wives, were afterwards prominent officials of the church. 

The first meetings after the union, while the new church 
was being built on Hanover street, w^ere held, some of them in 
the Amoskeag schoolhouse and some in Franklin hall. At 
that time there were very few houses on this side of the river, 
although they were rapidly increasing. At the second of these 
meetings it was voted "expedient to settle a Minister immedi- 
ately,^' and Mr. Cyrus W. Wallace was given a unanimous 
invitation to preach as a candidate for settlement. The judg- 
ment of the chinx'h was not approved by the society, which 
voted September 6, ''that it is not expedient at this time to 
concur with the vote of the church pas.sed last night to invite 
Eev. I\fr. Wallace to preach as a candidate." The future of 
Manchester was assured. Every move in the commercial and 
religious life of the town was to be made in the certain con- 



FORTY YEARS IN THE OLD CHURCH. 95 

fideiice that this little village was in a few years to l3e one of 
the chief cities in tlie state. The streets and the parks were 
laid ont with that end in view. The chnrehes should be bnilt 
and manned wiili that end in view. This was the feeling of 
men like William G. Means and Hiram Brown,* builders not 
only of tlie church, but of the city of Manchester. Mr. Wal- 
lace was not a yonng man. He was thirty-fonr years old, and 
was not yet ordained. His education had been limited. He 
was not a college graduate, and had. taken only a short sem- 
inary course. He had been born on a farm in the neighbor- 
ing toM-U' of Bedford in 1805, the fifth of seven children. 
His father had died of consumption when he was six years old. 
The long, sad procession to the burying ground a mile and a 
half away, the dull, hollow sound of the clods falling on the 
coffin lids, the return to the desolate home for the grim strug- 
gle with poverty, when ''the howling of the wolf might be 
heard not far from the door' — this was the boy's awakening 
to the stern realities of life. Ten or twelve weeks a year in 
the old wood-colored schoolhouse with Adams' arithmetic and 
Webster's spelling book covered the educational privileges of 
his early years. From the age of eighteen he had worked as 
a cabinet maker and painter. In 1831, a memorable re- 
vival was held in Bedford under the preaching of Thomas 
Savage, pastor of the church. Mr. Wallace, then twenty-six 
years old, came forth from those meetings with a new heart. 
He was seized with the desire to preach the gospel. ''Woe is 
me if I preach not the gospel." This constraining desire 
that came to Paul, and that has come to so many since and 
will to the end of time, was henceforth the controlling passion 

* Hiram Brown was the first mayor of Manchester. His residence stood 
on the square now occupied by the First Congregational church and the 
Catholic institutions. It was built over and still exists in the Old Ladies' 
Home. 



^6 ro WN CHUR CH HIS TOR \ '. 

of his life. But he was without money, books, or encourage- 
ment, and it was not till the fall of 1834 that his desire took 
form, and he journeyed forth to the frontiers of Ohio, where the 
little college of Oberlin was then entering upon the second year 
of its wonderful history. He worked in the college workshop 
and on the rising college buildings. At Oberlin he came under 
the spell of that mighty evangelist and theologian. President 
Charles G. Finney. It was here also that he learned to hate 
slavery with all the hat^^ed of his Scotch-Irish nature. "If 
you were to seek a fine illustration,'^ said Mr. Sperry in his 
memorial address, "of the truth that ^the steps of a good man 
are ordered by the Lord,' you may find it in that providential 
ordering which sent Mr. Ayallace to Oberlin. For, no doubt, 
God needed here in Xew Hampshire, in authoritative place, 
one abolitionist with prophetic voice, who by the sheer inten- 
sity of his convictions, should command the respectful atten- 
tion of all who heard him, and who by the sternest impulsions 
of duty was compelled to speak with unfaltering courage, 
whether men would hear or whether they would forbear." He 
did not return to Oberlin after the first year. He continued 
his studies with his pastor, Mr. Savage, and Dr. "Whiton of 
Antrim until 1836, when he entered the newly organized 
seminary at Gilmanton. He was graduated from Gilmanton 
in 1838. If men could only look into the future they could 
save themselves much uncertainty and anxiety. The society 
was not yet willing to concur with the church in calling Mr. 
Wallace, but they liked him and continued to engage him for 
the supply of the pulpit while the new meetinghouse was 
approaching completion on Lot Xo. 135 on Hanover street. 
This society had been incorporated as the First Congrega- 
tional Society in Amoskeag Village in the spring of the pre- 



FORTY YEARS IN THE OLD CHURCH. 97 

vioiis year. The first act of tin's society after its incorporation 
was to vote, April 18, 1838, "that a committee be appointed 
to take into consideration the subject of a place for Public 
Worship — to make estimates and plan for a cheap & convenient 
house to be built for the society and to make enquiries respect- 
ing the location of the same." Timothy Carter, Jr., and David 
A. Bun ton were the committee. In their report tbey recom- 
mended as "the most ecimomical & convenient form for the 
present purpose," a one-story building sixty-eight feet long 
and thirty-one feet wide, with eleven-foot ]:)0sts. It was pro- 
posed to divide the building into a room sixty feet long and 
an entry eight feet deep. The building was to be lighted by 
fourteen windows with twenty-four eight-by-ten light? in each 
window. Frequent meetings of the society were held during 
the spring and summer of 1838 while the building plans were 
being projected, but no effective move was made until January, 
1839. On the 5th of that month a committee was appointed 
to take a deed of the land offered by the x\moskeag Company, 
and was empowered to forin a joint stock company "for the 
purpose of building said House and paying for the same." 
The stock of this company was to l)e transferable to the First 
Congregational Society in preference to any other purchaser, 
at its par value, and the rate of interest was not to exceed eight 
per cent per annum. This company was to be known as "The 
Amoskeag Joint Stock Company for the purpose of Building 
a House for Public Worship for the use of the 1st Congrega- 
tional Society in Amoskeag Village." It was, however, never 
organized; in March the vote was rescinded, and it was voted 
that the society go forward as a society to build the meeting- 
house. Amory Warren, Timothy Carter, Jr., George W. Kim- 
ball, David A. Bunton, and Xahum Baldwin were a committee 



^8 TO IVN CHUR CH HIS TOR \ \ 

to carry the vote into effect. This action was taken on the 
basis of the assistance which the Amoskeag Company and the 
Stark Mills had offered toward tiie proposed building. About 
a fortnight later the committee reported that the companies 
liad withdrawn their offer of assistance, ''and instead thereof 
had determined on building a church themselves which would 
be put into the market for sale.'' The committee was em- 
powered to purchase the proposed house and the land "if the 
same can be done at a cost not exceeding $3000" — and to 
take a deed for the society. The arrangements were made 
through William Amory, then treasurer of the Amoskeag 
Company and agent of the Stark Mills. The society was 
required to deposit one thousand dollars in the hands of 
Mr. Robert Eeed, agent of the Amoskeag Company, as a 
guarantee that the purchase would be consummated and 
the companies reimbursed for their outlay. Mr. Amory 
pays the men of the society a happy compliment by say- 
ing that such a deposit as an earnest for the fulfillment of 
the contract is superfluous in their case, and so long as they 
or those whom they represent conduct its affairs, yet "upon 
the whole wise and necessary as a precautionary measure and 
likewise a precedent." The land was practically contributed 
by the Amoskeag Company. Before the building was com- 
pleted the faith of the society had gTOwn and it was decided 
to enlarge it. The complete cost of this first meetinghouse 
•on Hanover street when first finished was about fift}^- 
four hundred dollars, but it is almost impossible to believe 
that a building of such capacity and beauty could be built for 
any such sum. It was a fine example of the old New England 
meetinghouse architecture at its best. With its later enlarge- 
ments it seated nine hundred people. The companies ran no 



FORTY YEARS IN THE OLD CHURCH. 99 

risk in Ijiiikling such a meetinghouse in that location. The 
town was growing rapidly. AYithin two years from that time 
a half-dozen churches were huilt in the new Tillage. The new 
Universalist meetinghouse, built of brick, on Lowell street, was 
to be dedicated the following February. The First Baptist 
Church was to be erected on Manchester street the following 
year. So also was the Elm-street ^Methodist Church. The 
Free Baptist Church was to be built on Merrimac street in 1841. 
These were to be followed in quick succession by numerous 
other churches, until in five years the list was to include the 
Unitarian, Episcopal, Franklin-street Congregational, and Mer- 
rimack-strcet Baptist churches. 

The erection of the Hanover-street church by the two busi- 
ness corporations was not, however, a speculation. The offi- 
cers of the companies took a deep interest in the welfare of 
the society, and dealt generously with it through the whole 
transaction. Their ap]3arent purpose in taking the matter in 
their own hands was to build a better church than the society 
had planned on. If that was true, it was fortunate, for the 
building as completed was none too large for the needs of the 
church. The newly completed church came into the hands of 
the society in October, 1839, and was dedicated at once. A 
committee consisting of Capt. Hiram Brown, Joseph Moody, 
and Robert D. Davidson arranged for the dedication services, 
and Parson Wallace was invited to preach the dedication ser- 
mon. 'Tarson,'' ^Triest," and "Father' were the terms of 
affection and respect that were applied to Dr. Wallace during 
his ministry in Manchester. The first two were frequently 
used in the earlier years. The last remains forever associated 
with his name. 

The dedication of the new church, markino^ the beainnins: 



100 TO WN CIIUR CII HISrOR V. 

of regular religioiis worship in what is the main part of the city 
of Manchester, was a great day, and served to greatly in€rease 
the confidence of chnrch and comninnity in the yonng man 
who had been acting as pastor of the chnrch since May. At 
a meeting held Friday evening, November 22, in Franklin 
hall, the chnrch voted to give him a call to the permanent pas- 
torate. TJie society by a ballot of thirty-three yeas and one 
nay concurred with tlie vote. Though Manchester looked 
forward to an assured growth, it must not be imagined that 
it was the city it is now. It was still one of the smallest 
towns in this part of the state. By the previous census of 
1830 it had had a population all told of only eight hundred 
and eighty-seven — but little more tlian half the population 
of Bedford, and much less than half the population of Goffs- 
town. Pembroke, Derry, Amherst, Antrim were larger and 
more important towns. These facts will better enable us 
to understand the vote by which the society fixed Mr. AVallace^s 
salary at six hundred dollars, to be increased at the rate of 
fifty dollars a year until it amounted to eight hundred dollars. 
The last figure represented at that time an average salary in a 
small tov/n such as Manchester was then. Mr. Wallace was 
also an unmarried, unordained, and untried man. The ex- 
traordinary powers which were to make him the greatest per- 
sonal force in this city for a generation had not yet reached 
their development and were not known. It is necessary to 
take these considerations into account in order not to feel 
that the society was niggardly to its pastor. The church had 
never had a settled pastor. It was a tender blade emerging 
from home missionary soil in which its two roots had been 
nourished. From the date of the union, and the incorporation 
of the new organization, it was not to receive henceforth a dol- 



FORTY YEARS IN THE OLD CHURCH. 101 

lar of missionary aid. It was itself an infant learning to walk. 
The First Congregational Society always dealt generously with 
Dr. Wallace, as it has with all its pastors. It advanced his 
salary eight times during his pastorate— $600, $650, $700, 
$750, $800, $900, $1,200, $1,600, $2,000— this is an unusual 
record, and one cannot help wondering what the figure would 
have been if Dr. Wallace had stayed another thirty years! 
But he was a workman well ''worthy of his hire," and the 
society never invested its funds to better advantage than these 
figures represent. Besides this, they granted him frequent 
additional periods of vacation, and supplied the pulpit at their 
own expense. It April, 1850, he was voted a special vacation 
of six weeks. Four years later, on motion by Dr. Parker, it 
was "Resolved that this society grant permission to Eev. C. W. 
Wallace to suspend his pastoral labors during six months of the 
present year without reduction of salary." During the war in 
1864 he was granted a special leave of absence of six weeks, 
but he spent it in the hard but congenial labor of the Christian 
Commis.'^ion. Two years later it was "voted to tender our 
beloved pastor three months vacation" and to supply the pulpit 
by subscription. At the same meeting at which this vote was 
taken four hundred dollars was added to his salary. Four 
years later, by Dr. Wallace^s request, he was cheerfully granted 
-three months' vacation. This is the manner in which the 
society cared for its minister and by which they guaranteed to 
the church and the city the longest and most notable pastorate 
in Manchester. Though I feel some natural delicacy in prais- 
ing the society for that method of dealing with its minister, I 
cannot restrain the impulse to do it. It was a broad, high- 
minded policy, and could only have been followed by men of 
large hearts and sound judgments. It not only relieved the 



102 TO WN CHURCH HI ST OR Y. 

anxieties of the pastor and kept his magnificent energies in 
good preservation, but it was an untold blessing to the parish 
which he was permitted for so long a ]:»eriod in the full tide 
of life and health to serve. 

We return to the date of Mr. Wallace's call. Capt. Hiram 
Brown, G. B. Swift, and Henry Lancaster were the committee 
that communicated the call to Mr. Wallace. The call granted 
him two Sabbaths' regular vacation every year. It was also 
specified that either party to the contract should be free to 
dissolve the relationship by giving three months' notice. Mr. 
AVallace's letter of acceptance was written from Barnet, Vt. 
He first expressed a modest opinion of his qualifications. He 
was not certain that he was equal to the needs of so important 
a charge as Manchester was likely to become. "I fear that I 
am not ///e man whose labors are now called for as the minister 
of your church and society." In lieu of the "three months' 
notice" clause, which was hardly in keeping with the dignity 
of the relationship, he proposed that he become simply their 
ordained rather than their installed minister. "The above 
are the reasons for the answer which I now return. It may 
be thought that they imply a want of confidence on my part. 
I acknowledge they do so. But, beloved brethren and friends, 
my want of confidence is not in you but in myself — here I 
hope I may be indulged without suspicion." The church ap- 
pointed Hiram Brown, George Perry, and Eobert D. Davidson 
to unite with G. B. Swift, ^^ahum Baldwin, and James Wallace 
from the society to arrange for the ordination. The council 
of ordination was held January 8, 1840, in what the records 
call "the Congregational meetinghouse in Amoskeag." The 
name Amoskeag has been a term of shrinking significance. 
The Indians applied it to a stretch of several miles on the Mer- 



FORTY YEARS IN THE OLD CHURCH. 103 

riiTiae river above and below the falls. Later on it was applied 
to the region ronnd about the falls on both sides of the river. 
At present it applies to the village on the west side of the river 
at the falls. To speak of the church on Hanover street as the 
Congregational meetinghouse in Amoskeag village did not 
sound so strange in 1840 as it would today. Up to that time 
when anyone spoke of Manchester he had Manchester Center 
chiefly in mind, or the township as a whole, and not this vil- 
lage in the neighborhood of the Amoskeag falls. 

The Congregational churches of Nashua, Pembroke, Chester, 
Derry, Merrimack, and Goffstown, and the Presbyterian 
churches of Bedford, New Boston, Chester, and Derry, besides 
the First Congregational and Appleton-street churches of 
Lowell, constituted the council of ordination. The Rev. 
Ephraim P. Bradford of New Boston was moderator and Revs. 
Jonathan Clement of Chester and E. L. Parker of Derry were 
scribes. The candidate was examined as to his religious belief 
and "experimental acquaintance with the Gospel of Jesus 
Christ.*' The examination was satisfactory, and after recom- 
mending that the society rescind the "three months' notice" 
clause the council proceeded to the ordination. Several of the 
men who took part in the public exercises have already become 
familiar to us. Abraham Burnham, of Pembroke, offered the 
opening prayer, and Mr. AYallace's former nastor, Thomas 
Savage of Bedford, gave him the right hand of fellowship. 
M. C. Burnap of Lowell preached the sermon. 

The history of the parish since 1840 is a history of pros- 
perity — sometimes rapid and sometimes slow, but steady and 
sure.' The quarter of a century from 1840 on was to be one 
of the most eventful periods in the history of the nation. Mar- 
tin Van Buren was President of the LTnited States. John 



104 TO IVN CHURCH HISTOK Y. 

Page was governor of New Hampshire. In the memloership of 
the United States Senate of that year are found the greatest 
names in our political history. Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, 
John C. Calhoun, Thomas H. Benton — these are names enough 
to make any senate famous. They sat there together in the 
chamber in 1840. Together Avith them were other men of 
fame — James Buchanan, Franklin Pierce, and John J. Crit- 
tenden. In the House of Eepresentatives sat John Quincy 
Adams, Caleb Gushing, Millard Fillmore, John Bell, Thomas 
Corwin, and Joshua R. Giddings. The abolition movement 
was at its height. William Loyd Garrison had started the 
Liberator ten years before. The Anti-Slavery Society had 
been organized seven years before with headquarters in Xew 
York, and now had nearly two thousand auxiliaries scattered 
over the country, and was issuing more than six hundred thou- 
sand publications annually. Seven years before, Wendell Phil- 
lips had started on his marvelous career of abolition eloquence. 
The First Congregational Church of this city joined its voice 
in the roar of anti-slavery protest which had begun to rise 
from the land as from far away. We find this resolution on 
the records of January 2, 1843: 

"Whereas the institution of slavery, as it exists in the southern 
states of this union, is, in the opinion of this church a heinous sin 
fig-ainst Almighty God, and a direct violation of the rights of 
the enslaved, demoralizing and debasing' to the white population 
where it exists, and a barrier to the fulfilment of the command 
of our Savior, 'to ])reacli the Gospel to every creature — ^and where- 
as manj^ of the members of professed evangelical churches in the 
south are slave-holders, and defenders of the institution of 
slavery — and whereas the Churches of our denomination in the 
free states are living on terms of Christian fellowship and free 
communion with churches the members of which hold slaves, — 



FORTY YEARS IN THE OLD CHURCH. 105 

and whereas our silence may be and we have reason to believe is 
construed into an approval of the system . . . Therefore, Ke- 
solved, That this church do regard man holding his fellowman 
in bondage, the buying and selling of man made in the image of 
God, as a gross violation of the spirit and principles of the Gospel 
of Christ, and a sin that will bring blindness and hardness of 
heart upon those who engage in it. And that we do hereby 
most earnestly, and afeectionately, admonish our brethren of the 
South of this, their sin, and entreat them for the love of Christ, 
to forsake it, and do all in their power for its utter abolition. 
Eesolved that we cannot receive as members of this church any 
slaveholder or person who asserts and defends the claim of the 
slaveholder to a right to hold his fellowmen in bondage. Ee- 
solved that our pastor be requested not to invite into his pulpit 
any minister who is a slaveholder or a defender of slavery as a 
right. Eesolved that the foregoing preamble and resolutions be 
published in the Congregational Eccord printed at Concord, and 
that other papers, friendly to the subject be requested to copy 
them from that paper." 

Dr. Wallace reinfort-ed tliese resolutions by a steady, sus- 
tained onslaught on the citadel of slavery for twenty-five years. 
Those resolutions never became a dead letter till Lee sur- 
rendered to Grant at Appomattox court house. His slavery- 
sermons are mighty, prophetic utterances. "The nation is 
at school,'^ said he, in the second year of the Rebellion. "The 
discipline is war; God, the mighty God, the teacher; the les- 
son, righteousness.'^ "Society at the South is composed of 
elements vrhich unless the laws of mind change, must give 
birth to anarchy. Their favorite institution makes slave 
owners proud, conceited, overbearing, indolent, immoral. 
Every plantation is a perfect despotism." 

Hand in hand with the anti-slavery agitation went the tem- 
perance reform. The ten years from 1840 were to mark some 



106 TOWN CHURCH HISTORY. 

of its most notable victories. It was to culminate in legal 
prohibition in all the New England states and many states out- 
side of New England. In 1855 New York and Indiana were 
to adopt prohibitory laws. In those years the liquor problem 
became the cause of almost as much excitement as slavery. 
Eiots and disturbances, in which the military were called out 
and men were shot, occurred in more than one city of the 
country. Generally speaking it was an era of hot blood. 
Those were the days of fiery eloquence. The country was in 
dead earnest. In May, 1843, the church adopted a resolution 
discountenancing the use of intoxicating liquors as a bever- 
age. During the period of his pastorate. Dr. Wallace was per- 
haps the leading temperance orator in the state. He did yoe- 
man service in both these reforms. Let me give one illustra- 
tion of the power of his appeal as told by one who heard him. 
He was delivering a temperance lecture. ^^Have you ever seen 
a blacksmith make ready to shoe an ox? He fastens a rope 
around his horns, runs the rope through a pulley in the wall, 
attaches it to a windlass, and begins to wind. The ox holds 
back, but the blacksmith winds away at the windlass, the irre- 
sistible windlass, until the beast bellows in his pain and help- 
lessness. So with the drunkard. The rum seller turns the 
windlass; the rope tightens mercilessly on his powers of resist- 
ance. Watch him, as he is drawn lower and lower to his ruin. 
How shall he escape?'^ Then after a pause of deathlike 
silence, he raised his voice to a shout of electric power: '"Cat 
the rope! Cut the rope!" 

A period of intense agitation for the reform of great wrongs 
is sure to unearth a certain number of fanatics. It would be 
unreasonable to expect otherwise. The anti-slavery agitation 
was prolific of fanatics. There was one woman in New Hamp- 



3J 

CO 

H 

O 
O 
z 

CD 
JO 

m 
o 
> 

H 

O 
z 
> 
r~ 

O 

I 
c 

O 

I 



O 




FORTY YEARS IN THE OLD CHURCH. 107 

shire, Abby Foster, who exhibited her hatred of slavery by 
lecturing against it, and occasionally by cursing the church 
for its indifference. Her favorite time for attending to the 
latter duty was in the midst of the Sal^bath worship. All 
churches were alike to her. One bright Sunday morning she 
came to prophesy in the Hanover-street church. At a quiet 
moment in the service she arose and proceeded with her rail- 
ings. The congregation sat paralyzed for a moment. Then 
two officers of the society, Deacon Brown and William G. 
Means, regained suflficient equilibrium to proceed to dismiss 
her from the church as a disturber. They did so. Afterwards, 
one of them, :\Ir. AYilliam G. Means, remarked that when they 
took hold of her to lead her out, "she moved like a bag of salt." 

A long period of indebtedness followed the building of the 
meetinghouse. When the church was finished, the society 
was not able to raise subscriptions enough to pay for it. The 
practice of giving large sums of money to the church was only 
then beginning to become general. These men who were to 
do the g'iving were of the first generation of the era of voluntary 
l^arish support. They were learning the lesson. When the 
society took the new church in their own hands, they appear 
to have solicited no contributions. They sold fifty-dollar 
shares of stock among themselves and friends, the principal 
and six per cent interest being secured by a mortgage on the 
property. 

On tlie next page is a facsimile statement of the subscrip- 
tions taken from the society records: 

Some of the most interesting names in the history of Man- 
chester are on this list. I want to call attention to that of 
John H. Maynard. He was one of the characters of Manches- 
ter, long to be remembered. He had a good heart, but was not 



108 



TOWN CHURCH HIS TOR Y. 










^^*<:^ 



r^^ 









c^ 



\ 






^i^ 



^ 






Facsimile Sui;s( riptiox List. 



FORTY YEARS IN THE OLD CHURCH. 109 

religious. He was greatly given to profanity. One day 
Father AYallace reproached him for his weakness, and tried to 
show him not only the wickedness but the folly of it. 
'Tather Wallace," said Maynard, ^'don't you be anxious about 
my profanity. I don't mean any more by my cussin' than 
you do by your pray in'.'' 

The growth of the church after the union was rapid and sure. 
Twenty-eight members were added in that year to the miited 
church. Among them were Henry Lancaster and Hiram 
Brown, already mentioned, who were to become prominent and 
active deacons, AVilliam Hartshorn, who was to be the first 
church clerk elected after the incorporation of the consolidated 
church, and whose memory is preserved by the Hartshorn 
legacy to the society. Dr. Moses C. Greene, who was to be clerk 
of the society in the years following the building of the church, 
Dr. George B. Swift, William G. Means, and Robert D. David- 
son, three of the most prominent members of the society in 
the early years. One of these twenty-eight members, Mrs. 
John L. Bradford, is still living. Thirty-one members were 
added to the church in 18-10, thirty-one in 1841, and sixty-five 
in 181:2. Among those received in 1842 Mrs. Benjamin Kin- 
sley and 31rs. Clementine Bassett are still living. Thirty-four 
wei-e added in 1843 and twenty-five in 1844. In 1844 the 
little village on the east side of the Merrimac had grown with 
such lea])s and bounds that the meetinghouse on Hanover 
street was not adequate to supply the demand for sittings. 
There were enough Congregational people in the city to main- 
tain two churches. So the church swarmed. The happy 
result ^^■as the organization in May of that year of the Second, 
or Franklin-street Congregational Church, a church with a 
noble and prosperous history. The first move toward the or- 



110 TO VVN CHUK CH HIS TO R V. 

ganization of a second church was made immediately after the 
annual meeting in April. Dr. Wallace was the chairman of 
the committee which reported the advisability of the project. 
May 7, at a puhlic meeting called for the purpose, the second 
Congregational Society was organized with Josiah Crosby, 
M. D., as president, and iVbram Brigham as clerk and treasurer, 
and a constitution adopted and signed by sixteen people. 
Seven weeks later the Second Congregational Church was or- 
ganized with twenty members by an ecclesiastical council which 
met at the home of Dr. Wallace. On the 6th of the following 
November Mr. Henry M. Dexter was ordained as its first pastor. 
The First Church elected Deacon Moses Xoyes to act with the 
pastor in representing it at the ordaining council. The coun- 
cil sermon was preached by the celebrated E. N. Kirk, D. D., 
of Boston. ]\[r. Dexter's experience m being called to Man- 
chester, related by him at Dr. Wallace's quarter centennial 
celebration in 1865, show^s how unknown the town of Man- 
chester then was. He said that in May, 184:4, a gentleman 
came to Andover, and told him that he had been enquiring 
about his character. ''He wanted me to preach in Manches- 
ter; asked if I knew where it was; I told him I did not.'* This 
gentleman was William C. Clarke, afterwards the attorney-gen- 
eral of the state. 

The career of the First Church continued with unal;)ated 
vigor and prosperity. Dr. Wallace had publicly and magnan- 
imously requested his people at the time of the organization 
of the Second or Franklin-street Church not to ask anyone 
to remain with the First Church v»^hom the leaders of the new 
enterprise could persuade to join the Second. This broad- 
minded policy was the basis of the perfect harmony that has 
existed between these two churches from that day to this, and of 



FORTY YEARS IN THE OED CHURCH. Ill 

the prosperity which tliey have enjoyed alike. Three years 
after tlie organization of the Franklin-street Church the two 
chnrches united and organized the City Missionary Society. 
The membership of the chnrch grew steadily if not rapidly 
during these years. The net gain in 1845 was nine. It was 
only one in 18-16, five in 1847, five in 1848. The whole num- 
ber of members August 21, 1848, was 232, more than two 
thirds of whom were females. In 1849 there was a net loss 
of four. That brings the church to the middle of the last 
century with a membership of 228, a thriving daughter at her 
side, and prosperity and peace within her palaces. Those were 
not days for great accessions to the membership of the church. 
Xo such national agitation as that over slavery is conducive to 
the peaceful growth of the institutions of religion. 

The meetings of the society in the early days were rather 
more interesting than they are now. The society records are not 
as monotonous as those of the church. The records of the 
church state the additions and removals, births and deaths, 
with occasional elections of deacons and other officers, but the 
very harmony of its councils leave slim picking for the eccle- 
siastical historian. The society records, on the other hand, 
are full of interest. The pulse of -the parish may here be felt 
at any meeting. If the size of the congregations justify it, they 
increase the pew rents. If Mr. Horr, the chorister, has had 
trouble with his choir, we hear of it. When an extra vacation 
is given to the pastor Ave know he has been weary or ill. Three 
years after the commencement of Mr. Wallace's pastorate the 
prosperity of the parish is indicated by a vote, on motion of 
Samuel D. Bell, to increase the pew rentals to eighteen hundred 
dollars. Four years later the pew rentals on the floor of the 
meetinghouse are again increased twenty per cent. The elo- 



112 TOWN CHURCH HISTORY. 

qiienee of the pnlpit and the cordiality of the pew attracted 
large numbers of new arrivals to the church on Hanover street. 
A young man who came to Manchester to work in the mills in 
1812 gives this interesting pen picture of the church at that 
time : 

"I left my country home in Boscawen, and took up my abode 
in this cit3^ My mother had heard Dr. Wallace preach at a series 
of meeting's held in that town, and she earnestly requested me, 
on leaving- home, to be sure and become a regular attendant at 
the Hanover-street church, under his pastoral care. On the Sun- 
day after my arrival I went to the church. On entering I was met 
by Mr. Moulton, the sexton. I informed him I had come to stay 
awhile and wanted a regular seat. He replied that he would 
find a seat for me for that day, and during- the week would see 
if he could secure a regular seat. On the second Sunday I was 
shown into a pew occupied by an old g-entleman and his family. 
His name was Eben Foster. The pew was the first on the east 
side of the church next to the pulpit. In order to properly 
engage in the service it became necessary to iirocure a hymn 
book which I found at a bookstore on Elm street. I had my name 
printed in gold letters on the cover. I have carefully kept the 
book until this time. It was what was known as 'Watts and 
Select.' 

"I had a friend who desired a seat with me. He was from 
Gilmanton, and as Dr. Wallace prepared for the ministry at the 
seminary there, my friend had known of him. His name was 
Xehemiah Sleeper Bean. I had another friend who attended the 
same church. He occupied a seat in the choir and played a 
brass instrument to assist in the music. He was from Canter- 
bury. His name was Thomas Ham. 

•"I occasionally attended evening- meetings which were held in 
the southwest corner of the church (there was no chapel), as the 
stove which was used for heating- the church was located there. 
Generally there were not more than twenty or thirty present. 
Deacon Hiram Brown was usually there. He was a man easily 



FORTY VEAKS IN THE OLD CHURCH. 113 

approached and always had a kind word for strangers. He was 
the first mayor of the city. The last time I met him was in 
the citj' of Washing-ton. He had charge of the grounds around 
the executive mansion during the administration of President 
Johnson. Anotlier brother was Deacon Nahum Baldwin, who 
generall}" took charge of the meetings. Had I met him in Can- 
terbury^ I should suppose he would be classed as a Freewill Bap- 
tist. When the si)irit of the meeting would lag a little the 
deacon would sing a hymn commencing', 'Gome blooming youth, 
and seek the truth, and on to glory go,* etc. 

"On entering the church and walking up the east aisle I passed 
the pew of Samuel D. Bell, who was a constant attendant. He 
was afterwards chief justice of the supreme court of the state. 
One of the prominent men who was a constant worshiper was 
Robert Eeed, agent of the Amoskeag Company, a particular friend 
of the pastor, also David Gillis, agent of the Manchester Mills, 
and William G. Means, father of the late Hon. Charles T. Means. 
His voice was frequently heard in the prayer-meeting. I was 
particularly pleased with Mr. Means, because he was the pay- 
master of the Amoskeag, where I met him every four weeks. I 
early made the acquaintance of Frederick Smyth. He was prom- 
inent in all church matters. 

"I will mention onl}^ one more, Brother Charles Hutchinson, in 
whose family I resided. Mis. Hutchinson was a decided Meth- 
odist, so to make all harmonious they attended the Hanover-street 
church in the forenoon and the Methodist church in the after- 
noon. It was Mr. Hutchinson who invited me to join a Sunday- 
school class. I was introduced to Mr. Paj^son, who was a teacher 
in one of the public schools. His class was in the gallery. :Mr. 
Payson said I must provide myself with a copy of Barnes' Xotes 
on the Gospels and a question book to match. In all my sixty 
years of Sunday-school woi'k I never knew a better teacher than 
Mr. Payson." 

This Yoiiiig man was John Kiinball, now a deacon in the 
South Chureli in Concord, X. H. Another young man, Horace 



1 14 TO WN CHUR CH HI ST OR Y. 

Pettee, who came to Manchester in 1843 to become a perma- 
nent resident and a prominent and influential member of the 
parish, has given ns an account of his first impressions of the 
chiu'ch. He had come from tlie country church of Frances- 
town and was surprised by contrast to find on entering the 
Hanover-street church that the vast majority of the congre- 
gation were young people. Very few gray heads were to be 
seen. He mentions Deacon Moses Noyes as one of the old 
men. He tells us an interesting incident about Deacon Hiram 
Brown. "It was one Sunday afternoon in summer in the ves- 
try, with windows open out into the back street, where an 
Irishman was at work driving nails in repairing his back-yard 
fence. Deacon Brown, looking out of the window called out 
vigorously: 'Mike, stop that pounding; you disturb the meet- 
ing.' The pounding stopped.'' 

Perhaps the most active man in the church during those 
years was Deacon Nahum Baldwin. He was superintendent 
of the Sunday school, was a good singer and an able helper in 
the midweek prayer-meeting. He was deacon of the church for 
more than thirty-one years. Up to the present time the church 
has had three generations of deacons. Noyes, Farmer, Baldwin, 
Brown, Lancaster, and Holbrook Chandler belong to the early 
order. Crould, Foster, Abbott, Clough, French, P. K. Chandler, 
?^ewell, Marden, Pattee, Herrick, and Sweatt belong to the 
second order, most of whom have passed away. The third 
generation is now in service. Among the other notable men 
of the parish from the '40's to the '60's were William Harts- 
horn, clerk of the society for many years, John N. and T. B. 
Brown, Jacob Sawyer, Charles Richardson, paymaster for the 
Amoskeag Corporation, Israel E. Herrick, "sedate and quiet, 
always sitting in the front pew in church," and Jacob G. Cilley, 



FORTY YEARS IX THE OLD CHURCH. 115 

for mail}' years clerk of tlie society. Amono- the prom- 
inent men whom the parish lost when the Franklin-street 
Church was org'anized were Deacon David Brigham, Asa 0. 
Colhy, and Dr. IN'athaniel Wheat. Other names that appear 
frequently in the records of the society in the '50's are David 
Hill, Samuel Fish, George W. Pinkerton, D. C. Gould, James 
0. Adams, John Prince, William M. Parker, David Cross, E. A. 
Jenks, Hervey Tufts, and S. P. Chase. In 18-16 Manchester 
had hecome a city. In 1851 the hundredth anniversary of the 
incorporation of Derryfield was ohserved by the city in an elab- 
orate celebration, which was held in the city hall Wednesday 
afternoon and evening, October 22. The principal address was 
delivered by Dr. Wallace, and an interesting poem was written 
and read by William Stark. In his address Dr. Wallace 
alluded to the w^orthlessness of the soil in the town for farmins: 
purposes. He quoted an old man who had been born in the 
town but had left it because the land "was not worth ninepence 
an acre,'' and who "related the old story of the grasshopper 
which was found by the traveler on some of the Manchester 
pine plains wiping the tears from its swarthy cheeks, and when 
enquired of about the cause of its grief, replying 'the last 
mullen leaf is wasting, and I see nothing but certain death by 
starvation.' " It w^as in Mr. Stark's poem that appeared the 
striking characterization of the early men of Derryfield, that 

"Their 01113^ wish and their only praj^er, 
For the present world and the world to come, 
Was a string- of eels and a jng- of rum." 

The first choir leader of whom we find mention in the rec- 
ords of the society was Charles D. Horr. The choir was the 
cause of considerable anxiety in the early days. The minutes 



116 TO IVN CHURCH HISTOR Y. 

of the society meeting of January 22, 184:7, tell us that ^'after 
considerable discussion on the sul)ject of the Singing and the 
Leaders of the Choir, the following resolution was introduced 
and pass\l A^iz 

" ^Eesolved as the expression of this society that the Action 
of Certain members of the Singing Choir in Voting to Expel 
Mr. Chars. D. Horr from their Society while he was their legal 
A'ice President was irregular and uncall'd for, And that we like 
and approve of Mr. Horr's style of Singing. But owing to the 
present state of feeling in the Society, do not deem it Expe- 
dient that he should sing in choir at present.^ " 

The annual appropriations for music began in that year 
when the society voted one hundred dollars to be used for sing- 
ing "if called for before next annual meeting.'' In 1849 two 
hundred dollars was appropriated for music. In 1851 and 
1853 three hundred dollars was appropriated for music. These 
appropriations seem to have been made every second year. In 
1856 four hundred and fifty dollars was appropriated for music. 
In May, 1857, Mr. E. T. Baldwin began his career as organist 
of the church, the only organist the church has had since that 
time. It is a remarkable record. Mr. Baldwin can have the 
satisfactiorf of knovring that he has, without doubt, outstripped 
all the oroanists of Xew England in continuous service at one 
church. He had had six years' experience as organist at the 
Eirst Baptist and Franklin-street churches before coming to 
the Ilanover-street church. In 18G0 the old organ was sold 
and a new one bought. The appropriation for music in 1865 
was raised to seven hundred dollars. In 1869 it was increased 
to one thousand dollars. This remained the regular annual 
appropriation until very recent years. 

The fact has already been mentioned that the pew rentals 




EDWIN T. BALDWIN. 

ORGANIST AND DIRECTOR OF MUSIC. 
MAY, 1857, • 



FORTY YEARS IN THE OLD CHURCH. 117 

on the floor of the house had been raised twenty per cent in 
1848. They had been raised before. In 1865 they were 
raised ten per cent higher again. Two years later they were 
dropped back five per cent. But in 1870, on motion of Horace 
Pettee, they were reappraised so as to yield four hundred dol- 
lars extra revenue. The following account of the pew rents 
during the twenty-second, twenty-third, and twenty-fourth 
years of Dr. Wallace's pastorate is interesting. It gives evi- 
dence of the vitality of the pulpit and the growth of the parish 
and the city. Though these amounts are small when compared 
with our present receipts, they were large for that day. Pew 
rental receipts: 1862, $2,454; 1863, $2,480; 1864, $2,741. 

In 1865 the parish made elaborate preparations to celebrate 
the quarter centennial of Dr. Wallace's pastorate. The ser- 
vices began with his commemorative discourse on Sunday 
morning, January 8. On Monday evening "not less than two 
thousand persons" assembled in Smyth's hall to celebrate the 
event. Peter K. Chandler, as president of the society, pre- 
sided. Sj.eeches were made by the venerable Thomas Savage, 
who had i'oen forty years minister of the Bedford parish, and 
under whose ministry Dr. Wallace had been converted; by 
Nathaniel Bouton, the historian, pastor of the First Church in 
Concord; John P. Newell, Henry M. Dexter, S. D. Farns- 
worth, Henry E. Parker, and others. A poem of considerable 
merit was written for the occasion by Mrs. Nancy B. T. Green- 
ough. Particularly happy is her picture of the sisterhood of 
the First Congregational and Franklin-street churches: 

"As green beneath the Indian skies 
The spreading banyan's branches rise, 
And downward bends the vigorous shoot 
Till, interlaced, both branch and root, 



118 ro WN CHUR CH HIS TOR J '. 

Its green-wreathed arch and colonnade 
Have there a wildwood temple made, 
Divided, yet one beauteous tree 
That woos the soft winds from the sea — 
Thus did we part, — yet but in name. 
Our hearts and hopes are still the same, 
Our faith and love still intertwine." 

Among the other speakers on the occasion were John D. 
Patterson, William H. Fenn, at that time pastor of the Frank- 
lin-street Church, William G. Means, and John B. Clarke. 

The early '60's was a period of excitement in the church. A 
host of the yoimg men offered themselves in the great struggle 
for liberty and union. The pulpit of the First Congregational 
Church on Hanover street felt and convej^d every throb of 
the conflict. 

January 12, 1873, Dr. Wallace, with the pathetic reluctance 
of the veteran who lays aside his armor, no more to respond 
to the bugle call to battle, handed in his resignation as pastor 
of the First Congregational parish. There is sadness but no 
bitterness in his words. "When this resignation takes effect, 
I can anticipate no other pastorate. The step therefore which 
I now take is not for my sake, but for your welfare. . . . My 
generation are almost gone. The living are behind me. The 
vigor and working force of the church, as well as its pecuniary 
support, are drawn from those far younger than myself, while 
those for whose salvation we labor are mostly separated from 
me by a distance of many years. . . . The old routine needs 
to be broken up; an increased personal responsibility needs to 
be awakened, for a work is demanded here which cannot be 
performed without it. In a vrord, this church and society 
need the freshness, the vigor, the young life, the magnetism 



^^ 




% 



QpLaa^^J^^^^. 



FORTY YEARS IN THE OLD CHURCH. 119 

of another pastor. . . . That this step costs me a sacrifice, I 
will not deny. It is a sacrifice to leave the scene of my life- 
work — turning away from that altar upon which though with 
great imperfection, I have laid the vigor of my youth, and the 
strength of my manhood. It is a sacrifice to leave the only 
people I could call mine, whom I had the wish or the right to 
love as mine. It is a sacrifice to drift out upon the wide world 
and feel I have no church, no congregation, no pastorate, no 
spiritual home." 

The sad regret which is the undertone of this letter was 
shared also by the church. A\^iat he said about the need of 
a younger man was no doubt felt to be true. The whole trans- 
action was harmoniously and beautifully carried through. 
The resignation was accepted with becominig solemnity. The 
pastorate closed with May, and the parish, with its eyes toward 
the future, started on its quest for a new pastor. 

The search for a new pastor was eminently successful, and 
Mr. Edward Gr. Selden of Norwich, Conn., fresh from the sem- 
inary, was called October 21, 1873, at a salary of two thousand 
dollars, which was the salary the society had been paying Dr. 
Wallace. Mr. Selden .had won the hearts of the people, and 
was favorably inclined toward the church, but he declined the 
call on account of the inadequacy of the salary offered. One 
week later, the call was renewed, and on motion of J. D. 
Patterson, seconded by S. P. Jackson, the salary was 
placed at twenty-five hundred dollars. This was more in 
keeping with the ability of the parish at the time, and the 
worth of the man. Dr. Wallace was dismissed and Mr. Selden 
ordained by the same council, December 16, 1873. January 
1, 1874, Dr. Wallace was constituted pastor emeritus. Among 
the most prominent nam.es, beyond those already mentioned 



120 TOWN CHURCH HISTORY. 

in the history of this period, was that of John P. Newell, who 
is now the honored minister of Litchfield. Mr. Newell, at 
various times, held all the most important offices in the parish. 
He was president of the society when Mr. Selden was called, 
and carried the record of the call to him in Norwich. He was 
elected a deacon in December, 1872. He was principal of the 
high school and at one time mayor of Manchester. Another 
prominent and efficient member of the parish at this time was 
Dr. Leonard French. He was received into the church by let- 
ter April 3, 1864, together with forty-five others. Many of the 
most valuable memljers were among the number. Dr. French 
w^as elected deacon two years later, and from that time on, the 
concerns of the church shared his time and energies with the 
demands of his profession. When absent from his office, his 
slate usually directed his patients to seek him either at home 
or at the vestry of the Hanover-street church. Other active 
men of the parish, whose names have not been mentioned, were 
Judge Charles R. Morrison, Henry B. Moulton, Holmes R. 
Pettee, for several years superintendent of the Sunday school, 
and H. P. Watts, son of the Daniel Watts who was one of the 
organizers of the Presbyterian society at Manchester Center 
in 1828. There were ten or a dozen men who, during 
these years, pledged themselves to allow no deficit to be 
reported at any annual meeting of the society. Their agree- 
ment has become a fixed tradition of the parish. No deficit 
has been reported at any annual meeting of the society for a 
quarter of a century or more. These ten or a dozen men are 
mostly dead or gone, but another generation has arisen to take 
their places. It would not be within the scope of this history 
to mention the names of all the profitable servants in this 
vineyard. 



FORTY YEARS IN THE OLD CHURCH. 131 

AVe have noticed that the Franklin-street church was or- 
ganized in 1844 as the result of the overflow at the older 
church. The places of those who went out were soon filled, 
and in order to secure more room, the church was cut in two 
in the middle. The north half was pulled further toward the 
back street, the breach was joined, and the added space was 
secured. Earlier a building had been purchased and moved to 
the rear of the church and fitted up as a vestr}^ The popularity 
of the new pastor brought increased congregations, as shown 
in the increased pew rentals, and in the course of time, with 
the old church needing extensive repairs, the desire for a new 
church in a better location began to make itself felt among the 
more progressive minds in the parish. Early in 1879 the 
society held several meetings to discuss the project. The advo- 
cates of the new building were not able to carry their wish 
over those who favored repairing the old church. The con- 
servative section finally secured the agreement that nothing 
should be attempted till twenty-five thousand dollars was 
pledged. On motion of A. G. Stevens, a committee was ap- 
pointed to secure the subscriptions. The committee con- 
sisted of the president, Horace Pettee, Horace P. Watts, Alfred 
Quimby, and Michael Gilbert. Joseph B. Sawyer was at that 
time clerk of the society. The committee went immediately to 
work and secured about eighteen thousand dollars. That 
seemed to be the limit. Discouragement began to set in. It 
was well for the old parish that it had strong men at the helm. 
They had put their hands to the plow. They would not turn 
back. The president, Deacon Pettee, called a council of war. 
There was to be no retreat. It was arranged, with the approval 
of the pastor, to secure the remainder of the necessary amount 
at a Simday morning service. A brief sermon and statement 



122 TO WN CHUR CH HIS TOR Y. 

by Mr. Selden, followed by the report of the canvassing com- 
mittee, and the work was begun. "Pledges were called for," 
says Deacon Pettee, "when the first one to respond was old 
Mrs. Buchanan, the one least expected to give anything, who 
left her pew, and came forward to the desk and layed down a 
bank note. This was a good starter. Pledges were then 
announced from all parts of the house with great enthusiasm." 
After an hour's work and the columns had been footed up. it 
was found that $27,533 had been pledged. The new church 
was assured. Later the sum was increased to over forty-five 
thousand dollars, which with the price received for the old 
church made about sixty-seven thousand dollars. The prompt 
and hearty generosity of such persons as Horace P. Watts, Mrs. 
Mary E. Elliot, the founder of Elliot Hospital, G. W. 0. Teb- 
betts, D. K. Mack, Dr. Leonard French, Alfred Quimby, Henry 
B. Moulton, Michael Gilbert, Alvin Pratt, and others, furnished 
the needed enthusiasm at the outset. The enthusiasm in- 
creased in momentum as the army of nearly four hundred loyal 
parishioners came forward to lay their gifts on the altar. The 
gifts for the new edifice were numerous and moderate. The 
largest Avas three thousand dollars. There were several gifts 
of one thousand dollars and more, a large number of five-hun- 
dred-dollar gifts, and a multitude ranging from three hundred 
dollars to five dollars. It was a noble enterprise and nobly 
crowned. An edifice which is still the worthy pride of the 
community was erected on the best location in the city. 

The lot was purchased for twenty-five thousand dollars from 
the heirs of David E. Leach. The committee for the selection 
of the lot consisted of Horace P. Watts, Thomas Dunlap, Gil- 
man Piddle, Leonard French, J. L. Bradford, Daniel Farmer, 
J. B. Sawyer, and the president of the society. Horace Pettee, 




THE PRESENT FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, 

ERECT€D 1879. 



FORTY YEARS IX THE OLD CHURCH. 123 

as president of the society, sold the old church property Sat- 
urday, April 5, ]88(), to Alfred Quimby and John B. Smith 
for $23,100. J. B. Sawyer, Allen X. Clapp, J. T. Fanning, 
and Mr. Selden had been appointed a committee "to procure 
plans and estimates for a new house." J. T. Fanning was 
chosen as the architect. His work stands as a monument to his 
good taste. The architecture is Gothic. The ground plan is 
cruciform. The total length of the building is 156 feet. The 
width at the transept is 96 feet. The height of the spire is 
160 feet. The ridgepoles of both transept and nave are 70 
feet from the ground, and the pediments 74 feet. Turning to 
the interior, the dimensions of the nave are 84 by 60 feet. 
The length of the transept is 93 feet. The side walls have a 
height of 22 feet, and the apex is 60 feet away. The audi- 
torium contains 1,204 sittings. 

The last service in the old church was held March 28, 1880. 
The new church, with its profile toward Union street and the 
park, its front on Hanover street, and its rear on Amherst 
street, was dedicated debt free six weeks later. The value of 
the property today is not less than one hundred thousand dol- 
lars. It was one of the crowning victories of the old parish, and 
marks the opening of the new or recent era in its long ex- 
istence, and fixes a fitting close for this history. The events 
that follow are too recent, and too many actors in them are still 
living, to require historical research, analysis, or interpretation. 
Dr. Wallace is the only settled, permanent pastor the church 
ever had who is not still living. The other former pastors, 
Drs. Selden, Sperry, and Clapp, are still making history. 
What remains, therefore, to the finishing of this narrative is 
simply such a statement of familiar facts as will bring the 
story on down from the building of the new church to the 
present day. 



XII. 

IN THE NEW CHURCH ON HANOVER COMMON. 



The pews in the new church were thrown open for rental 
Thursday evening, May 19. The average rental for the pews in 
the old church had heen $6.10. For some unknown reason the 
pews in the new church were reduced to an average of $4.90. 
The prices ranged from $58 to $4. With the announcement 
that pew No. 139 had been set apart for the pastor, and No. 71 
for the pastor emeritus, the sale began. Charles H. Bartlett bid 
in the privilege of a first choice, and selected the pew which still 
remains in his family. The first service was held on the follow- 
ing Sunday, when the church was dedicated. Dr. A. J. F. 
Behrends of Providence preached the sermon. The pew rent- 
als for the first year in the new building were $4,577. It was at 
that time that Mr. Selden's salary was raised to three thousand 
dollars, and he was voted by the society a leave of absence for a 
journey abroad. At the close of that year the membership 
of the church was 553. Twelve members had been added 
during the year, five by confession and seven by letter. The 
number of removals had been thirty-four. The membership 
of the Sunday school was 580, with an average attendance 
of 263. 

In August, 1884, Mrs. Mary E. Elliot's home at 590 Beech 
street, which she had bequeathed to the society, besides a 

124 




■ '%^^^^; ; ,? ^ ;^ -T^?^^^ ' 



{^^^^:r-^^ 




THE NEW CHURCH ON HANOVER COMMON. 125 

legacy of two thousand dollars for the paying of the last bills 
on the new church, was turned over to the use of the pastor. 
In the spring of 1885 Mr. Selden, with the profound regret of 
the parish, presented his resignation, to accept a call to the 
South Church, Springfield, Mass. A farewell reception, with 
numerous presentations, was given him May 4, 1885. The 
church and society proceeded at once to find a new shepherd. 
They appointed a committee of fifteen for the purpose. A 
sub-committee consisting of Dr. Leonard French, Horace 
Pettee, and James W. C. Pickering went on the successful 
quest, and at a meeting of the church held August 12, recom- 
mended Willard G. Sperry of Peabody, Mass., to the vacant 
pastorate. Their recommendation was unanimously adopted, 
and Mr. Sperry was called at a salary of twenty-five hun- 
dred dollars and parsonage. He accepted and was installed 
October 6. 

Willard Gardner Sperry was born in Boston, Mass., August 
10, 1847. He was one of a family of five boys. His father, 
Henry Sperry, came from Cabot, Me. His mother^s maiden 
name was Mehitable Preston Berry. She was a native of 
Danvers, Mass. Mr. Sperry was educated at Phillips Academy 
at Andover, and at Yale College and Seminary. He graduated 
from the college in 1869. He accepted a call to the South Con- 
gregational Church in Peabody, Mass., before the close of his 
seminary course. In the first year of his pastorate at Peabody 
he was married to Miss Henrietta Learoyd of Danvers. 

It was during his pastorate and due to his inspiring 
initiative that a strong Christian Endeavor Society, which 
continues in its triumphant career, was organized. It was 
also during his pastorate and at his recommendation that the 
parish made choice of Miss Mary F. Dana as parish visitor and 



126 TO IV N CH UR CH HIS TO R V. 

pastor's assistant. The office has been nobly filled and ha& 
greatly relieved the pastors of a multitude of duties which she 
is fully as competent as they to perform. Mr. Sperry took a 
deep interest in the moral welfare of the city, and gave vig- 
orous support to the cause of municipal righteousness. He was 
an intimate friend of the venerable Dr. Wallace, and con- 
templated writing his biography. Much of the material he 
collected for that purpose has been used in this work. He 
pronounced a masterly eulogy on Dr. Wallace at a memorial 
service held shortly after his death in 1889. The following 
year he laid to rest another bosom friend of tenderer years, 
Mr. Thomas C. Baldwin, clerk of the church, whose youthful 
service had been full of rich promise. In November, 1892, Mr. 
Sperry laid down his charge to accept the presidency of Olivet 
College. His farewell sermon is a model of its kind, and a 
farewell reception, with numerous testimonials of affection and 
regret, speeded him on his way. 

The search for a new pastor began at once. The sub-com- 
mittee that carried on the search consisted of E. T. Baldwin, 
W. H. Huse, George Winch, Charles H. Bartlett, Allen N. 
Clapp, Miss Isabel Gr. Mack, and Miss Mary F. Dana. The 
committee found the pastor of their choice in E. A. Lawrence, 
D. D., of Baltimore. The church and society unanimously 
concurred in their recommendation and he was called. But 
before he had an opportunity to visit the church he was 
stricken with a fatal illness, and died November 9, 1893. The 
sad news cast a cloud of gloom over the parish. The work 
of the church had been ably sustained under the supply of 
Eev. Burke F. Leavitt. The committee took up its work again, 
and in the course of a few weeks united in recommending 
T. Eaton. Clapp, D. D., of Portland, Oregon, to the vacant 






(^^^^L^riVVS^ 



^t^^ 




THE NEW CHURCH ON HANOVER COMMON. 127 

charge. The recommendation was promptly adopted by the 
church and society, and Dr. Clapp was installed April 19. His 
coming was accompanied with testimonials of a high order. 

T. Eaton Clapp was born near Philadelphia in 1844. He 
was prepared for the ministry in Crozier Theological Seminary. 
His first charge was in a Baptist ghnrch at Williamsport, Pa. 
After a successful pastorate, he was called to the First Baptist 
Church of Syracuse, N. Y. It was in Syracuse that he decided 
to enter the Congregational ministry. His purpose in this step, 
as he said in answer to a question at his installation in Man- 
chester, was "to get on dry ground." In 1885 he accepted a 
call to the First Congregational Church in Portland, Oregon, 
where he did a large and successful work. He is a yeteran of 
the Civil War, having served in the Fifteenth Pennsylvania 
Cavalry. He was married in 1869 to Miss Caroline H. Cham- 
berlain. 

Dr. Clapp entered at once upon a pastorate of great industry. 
In the first year he was instrumental in securing the union of 
the evangelical churches in a great series of evangelistic meet- 
ings under B. Fay Mills. The meetings were held in the First 
Congregational Church, and resulted in a large accession to its 
membership. Dr. Clapp also played an active part in the 
effort to secure the enforcement of the prohibitory law in the 
city. In the spring of 1899 he resigned his charge, and has 
since been engaged in the work of the Anti-Saloon League. 
The following autumn the church and society extended a call 
to the present pastor. He began his work January 7, 1900. 



XIII. 

THE PRESENT PASTORATE. 



By Mart Frances Dana. 

Another chronicler here takes up the pen, for the reason 
that our historian had ended this little volume where many- 
were not satisfied to have it end, that is, with no other mention 
of the present successful pastorate beyond the fact that it 
began at a certain date. A man might well be forgiven for 
thinking himself unfitted to write the history of his own work, 
and modesty would very likely interfere with his doing full 
justice to it. This pastorate has only extended over three or 
four years, but they have been busy and eventful ones, and 
are well worthy of being recorded in this book of deeds, which 
will tell to succeeding generations of those who love our 
church the story of the past. 

Immediately upon the resignation of Dr. T. Eaton Clapp, a 
committee was appointed to fill the vacancy thus made in the 
pastoral office. This committee consisted of Edwin Hill, 
George H. Brown, Will C. Heath, Norwin S. Bean, Alfred 
Quimby, Mrs. John Cle worth, and Mary F. Dana. Their 
choice fell upon the Eev. Thomas Chalmers, pastor of the First 
Congregational Church, Port Huron, Mich., to whom a unan- 
imous call was extended November 1, 1899. He began his 
work January 7, and was installed February 14, 1900. The 

128 





(hwou^ 



vIJCax4iA 



ju^ 



THE PRESENT PASTORATE. 131^ 

wisdom of this choice has been abundantly justified by the 
increasingly happy and harmonious spirit which has ruled in 
church and parish. The knowledge that a recent tempting 
offer to remove to another field has been declined, serves to 
strengthen the feeling of affectionate esteem in which he is 
held by his people. 

Mr. Chalmers was born January 8, 1869, near Grand Rapids, 
Mich., of Scotch-Irish parentage. He belongs to a large fam- 
ily of eight children, and is the youngest of four brothers, all 
of whom are filling positions of influence either as ministers 
of the gospel or educators. After being trained in the 
schools of his own state, he went to Harvard University, and 
subsequently carried his studies still farther in the universities 
of Marburg, Germany,' and St. Andrews, Scotland. June 20, 
1894, he was married to Miss Maude Virginia Smith, of Colum- 
bus, Ohio. The Port Huron pastorate extended over a period 
of six years, and shows a remarkable record. Mr. Chalmers 
has won recognition as an earnest advocate of the revival of 
religious training for the young. "An EvangeHcal Cate- 
chism" has been prepared by him and used with marked re- 
sults. Several articles from his pen have appeared in leading 
religious journals, and he has also written a book on Alexan- 
der Campbell, and another entitled "The Juvenile Eevival." 
In conjunction with Eev. J. Bunyan Lemon, he has published 
a course of Bible study called "The Eainbow Series," which 
has met the approval of well-known Sunday-school workers, 
and is in use in several schools. 

Under his wise and vigorous leadership, the parish has 
grown to include seven hundred families. The church mem- 
bership is over eight hundred, two hundred and twenty hav- 
ing been added during this pastorate. The benevolences for 



130 TO WN CHUR CH HIS TO R Y. 

the three full years have amounted to $12,415.93, while the 
increasing annual income enabled the society to add five hun- 
dred dollars to the pastor's salary on January 30, 1901. 

These last years have seen the passing away of many, both 
men and women, who were closely identified with the early 
church memories. Perhaps Deacons Horace Pettee, A. Ward 
Waite, Moses E. Currier, and ex-Presidents Judge Charles H. 
Bartlett and Allen N. Clapp, might be mentioned as having 
been long officially connected with either church or society. 

In December, 1900, the church assumed the support of a 
foreign missionary pastor, the amount necessary for the 
same being procured by individual subscriptions, and Rev. 
John Peter Jones, D. D.^ of Madura, India, became our repre- 
sentative in that far-away land. During his recent furlough 
in this country, the church received three visits from him, on 
two of which he was accompanied by his wife, and on one 
occasion also by five of his six children. Personal affection 
for the*missionary family and more general interest in the work 
were fostered by these visits. 

In the summer of 1901, extensive renovations and improve- 
ments were made in the interior of the church, all being the 
munificent freewill offering of Dr. and Mrs. L. M. French, in 
acknowledgment whereof the following resolutions were passed 
by the society: 

Wheeeas, During the past summer, Dr. and Mrs. L. Melville 
French, of their own good impulses were moved to beautify the 
interior of our church, furnishing new carpets for the floors and 
new cushions for the pews to harmonize with the tints of the 
newly decorated walls and ceilings; and, 

Whereas, The generous manner with which the work was car- 
ried to completion, and the rare taste employed in its execution 



THE PRESENT PASTORATE. 131 

have added joy to the worship of the church, and honored Him 
in whose name it stands; therefore, be it 

Resolved, That we, the First Congregational Society, express to 
Dr. and Mrs. French onr most grateful appreciation, and that 
Ave recognize also in their gift an example which cannot help 
making ns more loyal, ready, and uncomplaining toward any 
financial demands npon ourselves which onr parish ma3^ need to 
make from time to time. 

The credit for the inception of an idea, the fiilfinment of 
which means much to this entire state, helongs to the pastor 
of this church. In harmony with his wish the chnrch voted, 
October 19, 1902, to invite the American Board to hold its 
next annual meeting in Manchester. The concurrence of the 
other Congregational churches in the vicinity was secured, and 
such an invitation was sent and accepted by the board. It will 
be the first time that this great body has been entertained in our 
state, and, while it is a vast undertaking, it is still more an 
esteemed honor and privilege. The following committee, ap- 
pointed by the three churches, is already at work making the 
necessary arrangements for this great event: 

Rev. Thomas Chalmers, chairman; George Winch, Charles 
B. AVingate, Frank H. Hardy, Charles E. Holbrook, Will C. 
Heath, George H. Brown, Walter G. Jones, L. Melville French, 
K'orwin S. Bean, from the First Congregational Church; Rev. 
B. W. Lockhart, I). D., David Cross, William C. Clarke, 
Thomas AValker, Jr., Clarence M. Edgerly, John G. Thorne, 
Frank W. Sargeant, J. A. Graf, J. W. Johnston, A. F. Emer- 
son, from the Franklin-street Church; Rev. Charles A. Bid- 
well, Warren J. Ayer, Walter M. Fulton, Mitchell Ward, Wal- 
ter B. Mitchell, from the South Main-street Church. 

Another interesting occasion to which the church is looking 



132 TO WN CHUR CII HIS TOR V. 

forward in the immediate future is the celebration of the 
double Diamond Jubilee. Nothing can better show the antici- 
pated pleasures of that week than the program itself, which 
we here insert: 

THE DOUBLE DIAMOND JUBILEE 



FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, 

Manchester, N. H. 
REV. THOMAS CHALMEKS, PASTOR. 



One Hundred and Fifty Years since the First Call to a Minister. 
1753—1908. 

Seventy-Five Years of Organized Independence of the Town. 
1828—1903. 



SUNDAY, MAY 17. 



10.30 A. M. Historical Address by the Pastor. 

Appropriate Jubilee Music by the Choir. 
5.00 P. M. Communion Service with Reception of Members. 



THE NEW PASrORATE. 133 

TUESDAY E VEXING, MAY 19. 



7.30. The Jubilee Banquet in Masonic Hall. 
8.30. After Dinner Speeches. 



Rev. Thomas Chalmers, Toastmaster. 



THE EARLY FATHERS. Rev. John P. Newell. 

"There is 
One great society alone on earth. 
The noble living, and the noble dead." 

— WilUam Wordsworth. 



THEIR WIVES AND SWEETHEARTS. Judge David Cross. 

" When I should be her lover forever and a day, 
And she my faithful sweetheart till the golden hair was gray." 
—James Whitcomb RUey. 

THE FORMER PASTORS. Henry W. Herrick. 

" God gives to every man 
The virtue, temper, understanding, taste. 
That lifts him Into life, and lets him fall 
Just in the niche he was ordained to fill." 

— William Coivper. 

CHRISTIANITY IN RURAL NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

Governor Nahum J. Bachelder. 

" When the church is social worth, 
When the state-house is the hearth. 
Then the perfect State is come." 

—Ralph Waldo Emerson, 



134 TO WN CHURCH HIST OR Y. 

OUR FAIR CITY Mayor Eugene E. Reed. 

•' AVhatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens." 

—-Daniel Webster. 



PISCATAQUOG AND NAMASKE. Edward J. Burnham. 

" Whence these legends and traditions. 

With the odors of the forest, 

With tlie dew and damp of meadows, 

With the cnrling smoke of wigwams, 

With the rushing of great rivers?" 

— Henry Wadsworth Lowjfellov. 



THE MERRIMACK ; NATURE'S PROPHET AND PRIEST. 

Dr. Daniel S. Adams. 

" Once more by tlie grace of Him 

Of every good the Giver, 

We sing upon its wooded rim 

The praises of our river." 

—John Greenleaf Whittier. 

GENERAL JOHN STARK. Senator Henry E. Burnham. 

" And sliould the nation mark 
In marble memory these mighty men, 
Or cast in bronze their deeds, or paint their scroll 
To deck her halls of state, what stauncher soul. 
More chivalric or dauntless, hath she then. 
Than gallant old John Stark? " 

—Allen Eastman Cross. 

THE PRESENT GENERATION. Rev. Charles A. Bidwell. 

" Progress is 
The Law of life ; man is not Man as yet." 

—Robert Browning. 

THE FUTURE. Hon. John C. Bickford. 

" The King is dead; long live the King." 



THE NE W PA S FOR A TE. 135 



THE VALUE OF STRONG BASIC PRINCIPLES. 

Rev. Burton W. Lockhart, D. D. 

" O small beginnings, ye are great and strong, 
Based on a faithful heart, and weariless brain. 
Ye build the future fair, ye conquer wrong. 
Ye earn the crown, and wear it not in vain." 

—James Russell Lowell. 



WEDNESDAY EVENING, MAY W. 



.00. The Jubilee Address, by Edward G. Selden, D. D., of Al- 
bany, New York, Pastor of this Church from 1873 to 1885. 



THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING, 3IAY 21. 



2.00 to 6.00 and 7.30 to 10.00. 

Reception in the Church Parlors, and Exhibition of the Portraits 
of the Fathers. 

Tea served from 4 to 5.30. 

Old Time Songs. 



FRIDAY EVENING, MAY 22. 



7.45. The Mid-week Service. 
Prayers for the Future. 



136 TO WN CHUR CII HIS TOR \ . 

The following persons comprise the jubilee committee: 
Eev. Thomas Chalmers, Henry W. Herrick, Jasper P. 
George, William H. Huse, John Cleworth, Cyrus H. Little, 
Mrs. Horace Pettee, Mrs. John C. Bickford, Isabella G-. Mack, 
Mary M. Tolman, Mary F. Dana. Jasper P. George was 
made secretary of this committee. Cyrus H. Little having re- 
signed, Norwin S. Bean was chosen to fill the vacancy. 

And so this history closes with a backward glance toward 
those small beginnings, which nevertheless were great and 
strong in that they received the impulse of great souls. "Great 
souls are portions of eternity," and so their work partakes of 
the imperishable character of the Eternal. In this time of 
retrospection many will find it in their hearts to say, 

"The thought of our past years in me doth breed 
Perpetual benediction." 



HISTORICAL LIST OF CHURCH OFFICERS. 



Pastors. 

Installed. Dismissed. 

Cyrus W. Wallace January 8, 1840.... December 16,1873 

Edward G. Selden December 16, 1873 .... May 19. 1885 

Willard G Sperry October 6, 1885 ... January 1, 1893 

T. Eaton Clapp April 18, 1894.... July 12.1899 

Thomas Chalmers February 14, 1900 



Deacons. 



Apx>ointed. 



Ceased to act. 



Moses Noyes 
Daniel Farmer * 



* October, 

October 



Nahum Baldwin February 29, 1840. . 

Hiram Brown February 29,1840.. 

Henry Lancaster July 10,1848.. 

Holbrook Chandler July 10, 1848. . 

Daniel C. Gould December 31. 1857. . 

Ebenezer C Foster September 4, 1858 . . 

Theodore T. Abbott July 5, 1862. . 

Henry Clough January 29, 1866. . 

Peter K. Chandler February 13, 1866 . . 

Leonard French February 13, 1866. . 

John P. Newell December 10, 1872. . 



Horace Pettee December 10, 1872. . . .January 

Simeon S. Harden December 10, 1872. . 

Taylor G. Sweatt February 19, 1875.. 



1860 
30, 1865 

27. 1871 
1. 1869 

19. 1858 

1, 1857 

3, 1872 

18, 1865 

23, 1874 

17. 1872 
23. 1885 
14, 1892 
26, 1888 
18. 1901 

January 10, 1902 
September 22, 1894 
..April 19,1889 

..January 19,1900 
..January 16,1903 
..January 13,1899 
..December 23, 1901 



.October 
..May 
. August 
. April 

. . November 
, . February 
. April 
.November 
. . January 
. . February 
. . August 



Josiah W. Stetson January 20, 1888 . 

Edwin T. Baldwin January 18, 1889 . 

Henry W. Herrick April 26,1889. 

WilhamH. Huse May 13,1892 

A. WardWaite January 25.1895 

* Moses Noyes, who had held the office of deacon in the Presbyterian churcli 
and Daniel Farmer, who had held the same office in the Congregational churcb 
retained the office after the union. 

137 



138 



TOWN CHURCH HISTORY. 



Joshua B. Estey January 25, 1895. . 

George Winch January 25, 1895. . 

George H. Brown January 22, 1897 . 

William C. Heath January 13, 1899. . 

Moses R. Currier January 19, 1900. . 

Jasper P. George January 19, 1900. 

Frank H. Hardy January 18, 190J . 

George Winch April 12,1901., 

Charles R. Holbrook January 10, 1902 . 

Edward R. Chamherlin February 7, 1902 . 

William H. Huse Februai-y 20, 1903. 



. January 
.January 



22, 1897 
19, 1900 



February 5, 1901 



Clerks. 

ApiMinted. Ceased to act. 

James N. Davidson December — 1828 .... October 19, 1833 

19, 1833.... October 5,1841 

5, 1841.... June 23,1854 

23, 1854.... May 5,1860 

5, 1860 .... January 4, 1863 

4, 1863 ...May 31, 1864 

31, 1864.... June 19,1874 

19, 1874 .... January 28, 1887 

28, 1887... June 17, 1888 

17, 1888 .... January 18, 1889 

18, 1889 .... September 3, 1890 

.November 30, 1894 



George Perry October 

Cyrus W. Wallace October 

William Hartshorn June 

George W. Pinkerton May 

Charles A, Daniels January 

Thomas B. Brown May 

John D. Patterson June 

Thomas C. Baldwin January 

Roger E. Dodge June 

Thomas C. Baldwin January 

Charles E. Wason Septemb'r 19, 1890 . 

Walter G. Jones November 30, 1894. 

Treasurers. 

Axipointed. 

William G. Means 

John Prince 

Thomas B. Brown July 16,1867. 

Jasper P. George ... July 17,1874. 

John A. Goodrich January 20, 1876 . 

Robert D. Gay January 18, 1878. 

G. AV. O. Tebbetts January 23, 1884. 

John A. Goodrich January 28, 1887. 

Francis H. Clement January 10, 1902 



Ceased to act. 



.June 
. January 
.January 
.January 
. January 
.January 



19, 1874 

20, 1876 
18, 1878 
23. 1884 
28, 1887 
10, 1902 



ANNUAL PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH. 



FROM THE DATE OF THE UNION IN 1839. 



DATE. 



1839. 
1840. 
1841. 
1842. 
1843. 
1844. 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 
1848. 
1849. 
1850. 
1851. 
1852. 
1853. 
1854. 
1855. 
1856. 
1857. 
1858 
1859. 
1860 
1861. 
1862 . 
1863. 
1864. 
1865. 
1866. 
1867. 
1868. 
1869. 
1870. 
1871. 



SIO^ 


fS. 






















o 
























•ji 


;_ 




w 




Oi 






















o 


© 


^ 




O 


1-1 


■A 


fl 










a 


>> 


o 


© 


o 


cq 


H 


Q^ 





56 


56 




4 


27 


31 




4 


27 


31 


5 


25 


40 


65 


10 


10 


24 


34 


10 


1 


24 


25 


22 


2 


15 


17 


8 




14 


14 


13 


i 


15 


16 


11 


4 


20 


24 


19 


5 


11 


16 


20 


17 


9 


26 


11 


9 


10 


19 


6 


12 


8 


20 


4 


5 


7 


12 


12 


5 


5 


10 


14 


16 


13 


29 


14 


8 


15 


23 


14 


10 


19 


29 


13 


58 


21 


79 


18 


12 


15 


27 


14 


4 


10 


14 


16 


11 


14 


25 


9 


7 


12 


19 


19 


2 


7 


9 


13 


70 


24 


94 


22 


6 


12 


18 


16 


8 


18 


26 


17 


4 


18 


22 


18 


3 


17 


20 


17 


9 


15 


24 


23 


6 


16 


22 


15 


11 


13 


24 


22 



56 
87 
113 
168 
192 
195 
204 
205 
210 
215 
211 
226 
239 
255 
255 
251 
266 
275 
291 
352 
365 
363 
379 
379 
375 
447 
449 
458 
462 
465 
466 
473 
475 



ADMISSIONS. 



DATE. 



. 








o 


1 












i 








O) 


o 




c 


>. 1 


O 


M 1 



1872 

1873 

1874 ■. .. . 

1875 

1876 

1877 

1878 

1879 

1880 

1881 

1882 

1883 

1884 

1885 

1886 

1887 

1888 

1889 

1890 

1891 

1892 

1893 

1894 

1895 

1896 

1897 

1898 

1899 

1900 

1901 (Jan. 1.). 

1902 

1903 



2 


17 


10 


12 


25 


4 


71 


24 


6 


6 


10 


13 


82 


25 


2 


7 


2 


T9 , 


5 


7 


7 


24 ! 


4 


10 


16 


12 ' 


9 


15 ' 


22 


22 


9 


19 


18 


6 


13 


13 


8 


11 


4 


15 


4 


15 


6 


20 


23 


16 


24 


28 


78 


33 


3 


14 


12 


17 


10 


8 


9 


5 


53 


25 


35 


26 


21 


27 



19 
22 
29 
95 
12 
23 

107 
9 
21 
12 
31 
14 
28 
24 
44 
28 
24 
26 
19 
19 
19 
26 
39 
52 

111 
17 
29 
18 
14 
78 
61 
48 



18 476 
15 ' 483 
412 
487 
478 
478 
556 
552 



553 
554 
543 
548 
540 
554 
543 
556 
561 
556 
555 
554 
566 
581 
612 
703 



667 



759 

788 



The membership of the Church at the date of the publication of this boolv 

is over 800. 



139 



HISTORICAL LIST OF SOCIETY OFFICERS. 



Presidents. 



A%)jioi)itecL Ceased to act. 

JosephMoor March 26, 1828.... March 28,1832 

Moses Noyes March 28, 1832. . . .March 25, 1835 

Daniel Hall March 25, 1835. . . . March 30, 1836 

Joseph M. Rowell March 30, 1836 .... March 29,1837 

Moses Noyes March 29,1837 April 27,1838 

Daniel Farmer April 27, 1838. . . .April 20, 1840 

David A. Bunton April 20, 1840. .. .April 24,1844 

Hiram Brown April 24. 1844. . . .April 17, 1854 

Nahum Baldwin April 17, 1854. . . .April 18, 1864 

Peter K. Chandler April 18, 1864 .... April 20, 1868 

John P. Newell April 20, 1868. . . .April 30, 1877 

Horace Pettee April 30, 1877 .... April 27, 1881 

Horace P. Watts April 27, 1881 . . . April 24, 1889 

Charles H. Bartlett April 24, 1889. . . . April 27, 1892 

Joshua B. Estey April 27, 1892. . . .April 25, 1894 

Allen N. Clapp April 25, 1894. . . .January 31, 1900 

Charles A. Adams January 31, 1900 

Clerks. 

Ap2)oi)ited. Ceased to act. 

Frankhn Moor March 26, 1828. . . .April 22, 1829 

Samuel Gamble April 22, 1829 . . .March 28, 1832 

Amos Weston, Jr March 28, 1832. . . .March 26, 1834 

John M. Noyes March 26, 1834 .... March 25, 1835 

Eobert P. Whittemore . . , March 25, 1835 March 29, 1837 

Amos Weston, Jr March 29, 1837. . . .April 27, 1838 

George W. Kimball April 27, 1838 .... April 27, 1839 

Moses C. Greene April 27, 1839 .... April 14, 1841 

Paul Cragin, Jr April 14, 1841. . . .April 20, 1842 

William G. Means April 20, 1842. . . .April 17, 1854 

William Hartshorn April 17, 1854 .... April 18, 1864 

John P. Newell April 18, 1864. . ..October 3,1864 

Jacob G. Cilley October 3, 1864.... April 20,1808 

140 



LIST OF SOCIETY OFFICERS. 



141 



Joseph B. Sawyer April 20, 1868. 

John T. Fanning April 27,1881. 

John Dowst April 21, 1886 . 

Joseph B. Sawyer April 25, 1893 , 

Will S. Adams April 29, 1896. 

Lewis W. Crockett January 29, 1902 

Treasurers. 

Apxtoxnted. 

Amos Weston, Jr March 26, 1828 

Moses C. Greene January 3, 1840 

Paul Cragin, Jr April 14, 1841 . 

William G. Means April 20, 1842. 

William Hartshorn April 17. 1854. 

John P. Newell April 18, 1864. 

Jacob G. Cilley October 3, 1864 

Joseph B. Sawyer April 20, 1868 

Suneon S. Marden April 27, 1880. 

Holmes R. Pettee April 19, 1882 

Harvey B. Sawyer April 27, 1892 

John Cleworth April 25, 1895 



....April 


27, 1881 


. ..April 


21, 1886 


....April 


25, 1893 


....April 


29, 1896 


. . . . January 


29, 1902 


Ceased to act. 


.... April 


14, 1&41 


....April 


20, 1842 


— April 


17, 1854 


....April 


18, 1864 


. ..October 


3, 1864 


....April 


20, 1868 


. . . . April 


27, 1880 


....April 


19, 1882 


....April 


27, 1892 


....April 


25, 1895 



142 



TOWN CHURCH HISTORY. 



TABULAR STATEMENT OF ACTUAL RECEIPTS FROM 
PEW RENTALS FROM 1862 TO 1903. 



Year ending 
April. 


Actual 

Pew 
Rentals. 


Year ending 
April. 


Actual 

Pew 
Rentals. 


Year ending 
April. 


Actual 

Pew 

Rentals. 


1862 


$2,669.11 
2,655.55 
2,741.62 


1879 

1880 


$4,253.60 
4,312.97 
4,577.29 
4,628.55 
5,243.94 

5,462.90 
5,074.97 
4,668.42 
5,015.72 
4,650.52 
4,725.22 
4,761.70 
4,853.85 


1892 . . 


.^4,765.65 
4,684.10 
4 715.10 


1863 


1893 


1864 


1881 


1894 




1882 


1895 

1896 

Year end'g Jan. 
1897 


4,976.86 

5,109.58 
,~9 mos. 
3,453.56 

4,846.66 

4,749.96 


1870 


3,613.40 

3,490.24 
4,158.13 
3,817.09 
3,831.96 
4,365.46 
4,278.56 
4,515.94 
4,361.86 


1883 


1871 


1884 


1872 


1885 

1886 


1898 


1873 


1899 


1874 


1887 


1900 

1901 


4,345.07 
4,962.83 
5,035.22 
5 479.76 


1875 


1888 


1876 


1889 


1902 


1877 


1890 


1903 


1878 


1891 













These figures do not represent the total annual income of the society. That 
for last year, 1903, Avas $7,499.63. 



LEGACIES AND ENDOWMENT FUNDS. 



By the generous remembrance of past members of the parish the society has 
gradually accumulated a small endowment fund. It is the hope of the society 
that this fund may grow to such proportions as to equip the parish for a mightier 
service to the community, and to enable the church to turn its energies more 
freely toward outside objects of benevolence. A hundred thousand dollar en- 
dowment fund would multiply the beneficent powers of the parish. Every 
legacy or gift, however small, will help toward that end. 



LEGACIES AND ENDOWMENTS. 143 

LEGACIES TO THE SOCIETY. 

Mary E. Elliot, March, 1880 S2,000.00 

Also house and land on Beech street. 

Adaline Hartshorn, January, 1893 '. 1,000.00 

Henry M. French, June, 1893 500.00 

Allen N. Clapp, December, 1901 1,000.00 

Harriet K. Prince, February, 1902, house and land on Pine street. 

LEGACIES TO THE CHURCH. 

Hannah B. Kenniston, March, 1885 $1,000.00 

Clara A. Stanton, June, 1895 100.00 

Edward W. Forsalth, February, 1899 500.00 

The church has also a residuary interest in the house and lot of the late 
Ebenezer Ferren on Walnut street. 

FORM OF BEQUEST. 

I give, bequeath, and devise dollars to the First Congrega- 
tional Society of Manchester, N. H. 

Signature 

The word "Church" maybe substituted for that of "Society" if the gift 
is so intended. 



INDEX. 



Page 

Abbott, William 93 

Abbott, Theodore T 114 

Adams, James O 115 

Amherst 52, 100 

American Board 131 

Ammy, Abraharn 50 

Amory, William 98 

Amoskeag- 10-102 

Amoskeag- Company 81, 86, 97, 98 

Amoskeag" Joint Stock Company 97 

Amoskeag- Schoolhouse 94 

Anderson, Robert 40 

Andrews, "blister" 52 

Andover Theological Seminary 85 

Annual Progress of the Church 139 

Anti-Slavery Eesolutions 104 

Anti-Slavery Sermons 105 

Anti-Slavery Society 104 

Antrim 96, 100 

Appropriations for Music 116 

Atwood, Stephen 79, 82 

Baldwin, E. T 116, 126 

Baldwin, Mrs. Nahum „ 87. 93 

Baldwin, Nahum 93, 97, 102. 113 

Baldwin, Thomas C 126 

Bancroft, Benjamin 25 

Barron, Elias 24 

Bartlett, Charles H 124* 'iV6 130 

Bartley, .John M '.,..' 75 

Bassett, Mrs. Clementine ,, 109 

gean, K S 112; 128. 131 

Beaver Pond 20 

Bedford 35, '36,* 5l','64,' 67,' 75," 95. 100 

Bedford's Call to a Pastor 36 

Bedford-street Church, Boston *. ". 75 

Behrends, Dr. A. J. F 124 

145 



146 iNDEX. 

Page 

Beli, Samuel D 87, 111, 113 

Betogkom, Simon 19 

Bidwell, Rev. Charles A 132 

Blake. George 82 

Blake, Hannah E 82 

Blanchard, Joseph 25, 26 

Blodgett, Isaac 64, 71, 93 

Boscawen 112 

Bouton, Xathaniel 117 

Bowers, Capt. Jonathan 26 

Bowers, Benjamin 27 

Bovd, Xathaniel 31, 34 

Boyd. Samuel 40, 46 

Bradford, Ephraim P 72, 92, 103 

Bradford, J. L 122 

Bradford, Mrs. John L 109 

Brigham, Abram 110 

Brigham, David 115 

Brown, Capt. Hiram 94, 95, 99, 102, 109, 112, 114 

Brown, George H 128, 131 

Brown, J. H. & T. B 114 

Brown, Jonathan 54, 72 

Bunton, David A 97 

Burnap, M. C •. 103 

Burnham, Abraham 75, 82, 85, 92, 103 

Butler, Rev. Benjamin 38,39 

Calef, John 71 

Carter, Timothy, Jr 97 

Chamberlain, Caroline H 127 

Chandler, Holbrook 114 

Chandler, P. K. 114, 117 

Chapin, Mr 53 

Charge Ag'ainst Mr. Pickles 51 

Charles River 14 

Chase, Joseph 75 

Chase, S. P 115 

Chelmsford 25 

Cheney, Thomas 71, 77, 94 

Chester , 27, 31, 45, 79 

Christian Endeavor Society 125 

Christian Indians 18 

Church Indebtedness 107 

Church. John Hubbard 76, 79, 85, 92 

Cilley, Jacob G 114 

Cilley, ]\[rs. Bradbury Poor 82 

City Missionary Society Ill 



INDEX. 147 

Page 

<Iapi), Allen X 12:!, l:3(>, 130 

Clapp, T. f:aton 123, 126. 127, 128 

Clark. James V^ 84 

Clark, Mary 75 

Clarke, John P. 118 

Clarke. William C 110. 131 

Clement, Jonathan 103 

Cleworth, Mrs. John 128 

Clongh, Henry 114 

Colby, Asa O^ 53, 115 

Concord 10, 36, 63 

Congregational Clinrch in Amoskeao- 56, 61, 68, 77 

78, 79, 80, 81, 85, 91 

Congregational Chnrch of ^fanchester 56, 61, 63, 64, 65 

68, 69, 76. 77, 78. 85. 89. 92. 93, 104 

Con vers, Josiah 54 

Council of Clergymen 91, 92,, 93 

Council of Ordination 103 

Council for New England 12, 13, 14 

Creed of Amoskeag" Church 80 

Crosby, Josiah 110 

Cross.*^ David 115, 131 

Cummins, William 23 

Currier, :N[oses K 130 

Dana, Miss Mary F 125, 126. 128 

Davidson, James N 79, 82, 83, 84 

Davidson, Airs. Lucy 79 

Davidson, Eobert d' 99, 102, 109 

Davis, Daniel 48, 50 

Davis. Sarah , 75, 79 

Day, Eev. P. D 92 

Dean, Dr. Oliver 81 

Deane, H. L 85 

Dean's Hall 81, 87 

De Monts 9, 10, 11 

Derry 75, 100 

Derry Associal ion 65 

Derrytield 21-77 

Dexter, Henry :\r 110, 117 

Dickey, Mrs. Jennet 93 

Dickey, John 40. 50 

Dickey, Eobert 40 

Dimensions of the Xew Church 123 

Dinsmore, Alonzo 79 

Dissolution of Church and Town 53, 60, 69 

Disestablishment Party 54 



148 INDEX. 

Page 

Double Diamond Jubilee 132 

Dunlap, Mrs 37 

Dunlap, Thomas 122 

Dunstable 22, 23, 25, 79 

Duston, Dr. John 50 

Dwinnell, John 54 

East Derry First Congregational Church 20 

Eliot, John 16. 17, 18 

Elliot Hospital 122 

Elliot, Mary E 122. 124 

Emerson, Peter 50. 53 

English Party 38 

Expense Items for Kaising a Meetinghouse 26 

Exeter 14. 45. 62 

Fanning, J. T 123 

Farmer, Betsy 79 

Farmer, Col. Daniel 78, 79, 80, 82, 83, 84, 86, 88, 93, 114. 122 

Farmer, Elizabeth A 79 

Farmer, Joseph 50. 52 

Farmer, Mrs. Daniel 93 

Farnsworth, S. D 117 

Farrah, Jacob 23 

Farwell, Isaac 25 

Farwell, Mr 54 

Fenn, William H 118 

First Congregational Church 118, 131 

Fishing Season at Amoskeag- 16 

Fish, Samuel 115 

Finney, Charles G 96 

Fiske, John 18 

First Baptist Church 99 

First Meetinghouse on Hanover Street 98 

First Warrant Assessing Derryfield 32 

Flanders, Betsey 93 

Fort William Henrv 43 

Foster, Abby 107 

Foster, Benjamin Franklin 70, 85 

Fostei-, Eben 112, 114 

Franklin Hall 92, 94. 100 

Franklin-street Church 117, 118, 121 

Free Baptist Church 99 

French and Indian W^ar 42. 59 

French, Dr. Leonard 120, 122, 125, 130, 131 

French, Catharine 79. 84, 93 

French, Phineas 92, 114 

Gamble, Archibald 50. 52 



INDEX. 149 

Page 

(iambie, Samuel 71, 1)4 

(larrisoii, Williair. Lo\ d 104 

(ieorge 11 ;;2, i\-\ 

Cilbert, Michael 121, 12:3 

( iillis, Abigail 75 

(iillis, David li;? 

( Jillis, Pheni 7") 

( iilmore, Eev. George 46, 47 

(iilnianton 90 

(Joffe, John 81, ;]2, 34, H8, 39. 42, 44, 45, 48, 50 

(ioft'e, Joseph 53 

Coffstown 75, 79, 100 

( Jookin, Daniel 18 

(iorges, Sir Ferdinand 12, 13, 14 

(lornian, James 48 

Conld, D. C 114, 115 

(Ireeley, Gilbert 70 

Greele^', Jonathan 50 

( Jreen, John 48 

( Jreene, Dr. ]\Ioses ( ' 109 

( Jreenland .• 45 

( Jreenongh, INIrs. Nancy B. T 117 

(Jriffin, Thomas 50 

(Jriffin, Mrs. Jernsha 93) 

Hadley, Benjamin 38 

Hall, Betsey 75 

Hall, Daniel 48, 5 !, (54. 71, 77 

Hall, Elizabeth 52 

Hall, John, Jr 50, ()5 

Hall. Lieut. John 31-71 

! tail, Robert 84, 8(5 

Hall, Samnel 01. (U, 09, 71, 85 

Hall, Thomas 40 

Ham, Thomas 112 

Hardy, Frank H 131 

Harris, Walter 53, 79 

Hartshorn, William 109, 114 

Harvey, John 40. 41 

Harvey, Jonas 71 

Haseltine, Asa 50 

llaseltine, Joseph 50 

Haverhill 10. 20 

Ha;^elton, Moses 79 

Heath, Will C 128, 131 

Henry of Navarre 9 

Herrfek, Dea. H. W 114 



150 INDEX. 

Page 

Herrick, Israel E 114 

Herrick, Mr 54 

Hildreth, Maj. Kphraim \l\, 2o 

Plolbrook, Charlt'K Jl. . . - l.'.l 

Horr, Charles D 1 1 1, 1 15, 110 

Humphrey, James 40 

Huse, Abel 50 

Huse, Isaac 54 

Hiise, W. H 12G 

Indian Church at Amoskeag- 10, 19 

Indians 15, 16, 17, 18, 1<), 22, 23, 24 

Jackson's Hall 74 

Jackson, S. P 11*) 

Jenks, E. A 115 

Jewett, Leonard 72 

Johnson, Caleb . 84 

Jones, Miss Harriet 0:> 

Jones, John Peter, D. D 1.10 

Jones, Walter G 1:51 

Kidder, Benjamin 2:5 

Kimball, George W 07 

Kimball, John 11 

Kimball, Mrs. Sarah S)?. 

Kingstown 45 

Kinsley, Mrs. Benjamin 109 

Kirk, E. N., D. D. ; 110 

Knowlton, Gilman 79, 82 

Knox, Daniel 75 

Lancaster, Daniel 79 

Lancaster, Henry 94, 102, 109, 114 

Lawrence, E. A.," D. D 120 

Leach, David E 122 

Learovd, Miss Henrietta 125 

Leavitt, Rev. Burke F 126 

Leonard, Mr 54 

Letter of Appeal for Aid , . 8:> 

Liquor Problem 106 

Litchfield , 24, 75 

Livermore, INIatthew '. 28 

Lockhart, Rev. B. W 1^1 

Londonderry 20, 21, 31, 37, 67, 75 

Londonderry Presbj'tery 73, 76, 87 

Long-, Joseph 75 

Lord, "Mr." 53 

Lovewell, John 22, 23, 24 

Lovewell's Pond 23 



INDEX. 151 

Page 

^^^_^^.^\X 10, 16 

MacGregoV/james - 20, 21, 53, 03 

Mack, Daniel Jz 

^^ack, D. K tj;;. 

.Mack, Miss Isabel G ^f 

Maiorev, James ■ • *\ 

Manchester, X. H ^^-^i^ 

Manning', Abel . . .* \ 

Mardeii, Dea. S. S -^^j 

.\iassacliusetts Grant at Amoskeag •■•;••,, , - 

-\r . .12, l.>, 11, 1<> 

Mason ■""' ' ' 

Maynard, John H ^^1 

McCallev, Lieut. James ^ 

McClintock, Michael -^''' ^l 

McClintock, Samuel "^-^ 



:McClintock, William 



>6, ?>5, 37, 45 



McDowell, Alexander "^'-^^ ^^^' ^^ 

McGregore, D • '" 

McMurphy, Alexander f^ ^^ 

McNiel, Daniel ■^^' ^t 

^IcQueston, David l^ 

>.tcQueston, James '^ 

McQueston, Mrs. Lettice -^/^ 

Means, Charles T ••••-: AA ' •/.o .To 

Means; William G 95, 107, 109, 113, 118 

:\rembership of Church • HI' 1^^ 

Merrill, Abraham ^^ 

Merrill, David ^° 

Merrill, John fl 

^lerrill, Mr • ^4 

Merrimac, The ''^J^^ 

Moody, Joseph ^^ 

2>roor, Eliza A X^^ 

^Moor, Franklin ^ 

Moor, Capt. Samuel ^^^ 

Moor, John Ai" ro 7i' 

:yroor, .Joseph 61, 69, ^1 

Moor, Stephen ^;^ 

Morrison. Charles E i;" 

Morse, Johnson -^ ^. 

Morse, Stephen ipo'l'^^ 

Moulton, Henry B ^'^"' l;- 

:\rurphy, James • "^'^ 

Namaoskeag i n' 99 

Nashua ^"' ::~ 

Xetherlands - 



]o2 INDEX. 

Page 

New Boston 75, 10,] 

Newburypoi't 9, 62 

New Eng-lantl 10-106 

Newell, Dea. John V 11 !. 1 1 7, 120 

Xew Hampshire 10-96 

New Hampshire ]\Iission;n'v Soeiet\- ('O-S") 

Noble, Mr " " 86 

Northampton 62 

Notting'ham 7.1. 75 

Noves, John M 77 

Noyes, ]\[iss Maria 9?. 

Noyes, Moses (5 l-ll-l 

Noyes, jNIrs. Moses 93 

NutheM 20, 23 

Nutt, James 54 

Nutt, William -JO, 50 

Old Harry's Town 21,31 

Ordway, '"Revt Mr." 52 

Orr, Lieut. John 51 

Page, John 104 

Parker, E. L 72. 101 , 103 

T*arker, Henry E 1 IT 

Parker, Rev. Thomas 26 

Parker, William 28 

Parkman 43 

Parsonage 124, 125 

Passaconav.ay 10, 11. 16. IT 

Patterson, John D 118. 119 

Pawtncket 10, 16. 17, 27 

Payson 113 

Peacock, Henry 93 

Peirse, James 40 

Pelham 76 

Pembroke 75, 79, 100 

Pequaket 23,24 

Perham, Captain 52 

Perham, John \^^, 48 

Perham, William 31, 32. 41. 50 

Perham, William. Jr 10 

Perse, Joshna 50 

Perry, George 93. 1 02 

Perry, Mrs. \\^x\ C 93 

Pettee, Horace .". 114, 121, 122. 125, 130 

Pettee, Holmes P 120 

Pew Ground 48, 50, 52, 65 

Pew Rentals 1 11, 116 



TAW EX. 153 

Page 

Pickeriiio. .Tames W. C 125 

Pickles. William .M). :>!, :)2. 5;!, 72 

Tierce, Franklin 104 

Tierce, Sylvester (1 T.") 

Pinkerton, (>eorpe W ll'> 

Piscataqna 12. 14. 1 :>. 24. 84 

Tlymoiith 12. 6r, 

T'lyniouth Company 12, 15 

Poor, Mrs. Samuel 03 

Poor, Samnel 0?. 

Potter, C. E 37. 43. 44. 50 

Pratt, Alvin 122 

Prentice. Eev. Josiah 76 

Presbyterian Chnreh and Society of Tifanchester 56-94 

Presbyterians ." 13. 20, 2S. 33. 59. 66, 67 

Prince, John 115 

Protestantism 11. 13 

Pnritan Part v T!, 35. 67 

Qnimby. Alfred 121, 122. 123. 128 

Pand ^. 78 

Pand's Grant 24 

Pay, James 71 

Pay, John 52. 71 

Pay, Lucy 75 

Peed, Eobert 98. 113 

Pesig-nations 118, 125, 127 

Pevolntionary War 47, 50, 59, 60 

PiedeU. John 34. 35, 40 

Piddle, Oilman 122 

Piddle. Isaac 51 

Tviddle, William 51 

Pichardson. Charles 114 

Pichardson. Josiah 53 

Powell. Joseph M 77 

Sag'amores 14.17 

Salisbnrv. Simeon 84 

Sargent,' Enoch P 79 

Savag-e, Thomas 72. 75, 95, 96, 103 

Sawyer. Jacob 114 

Sawyer. Joseph P 121. 122, 123 

Scotch-Irish and Their Claims 20. 21. 27. 28. 41. 44. 63, 67 

Scotland 11. 67 

Selden, Edward G 119, 122. 123. 124. 125 

Shepherd. Betsy Pntler 82 

Shepley. Capt. John 24 



154 INDEX. 

Page 

Simons, Green 50 

Smith, iVIaiide \'iroinia 129 

Smith, Henry T 55 

Smith, Samuel 50 

Smith, Thomas 75 

Sjuyth, Frederick li:! 

Siiowshoe Expedition 24 

Society of Jesns 11 

Sperry, W. G Oa. 12:'., 125, 120 

Stark^ Abby 75, 93 

Stark, Archibald 25, 20 

Stark, Elizabeth 75, 9:", 

Stark, Gen. John 25, 42, 45, 50, 52 

Stark Mills 98 

Stark, Mrs. F. (i 93 

Stark, Samuel 48 

Stark, Sarah 75 

Stark, William 115 

Starrett, David 41, 40 

Stevens, A. G _ 121 

Stevens, Benjamin 35, 37, 40 

Stevens, David 50 

Stevens, Ezekiel 42. 43, 44 

Stevens, William 50 

Sticknev, Thomas 54 

Stirling-, Hugh 40, 41 

Stone, Elder 54 

Stone, T. D. P 86 

Streeter, Sebastian 54 

Suncook 24 

Sunday School 120, 124 

Sweatt, Deacon 114 

Swift, G. B 102, 109 

Talbot, Rev. William K 61, 72, 73, 75, 82, 85 

Tebbetts, G. W. O 122 

Temperance Eef orm ' 105 

Thaxter, Hon. Samuel 24 

Thompson, Benjamin 26 

ThomiDSon, Rev. William IS 

Thorne, John G l-"!^ 

Tolman, Rev. S. H 75J 

Tov^n Church Party 54, 55, 56, 63, 65 

Tufts, Hervey H'' 

Turner, John 24 

Tyng-, Capt. William 22, 24 



IXDEX. 155 

Page 

Tyng, Elcazer 2(5 

Tyng'stowii 22. 2(i, 27, 28, ;J8, 41, (vl 

Union of Churches <)1 

IJniversalist ^Nleetingliouse Ui) 

Waite, A. Ward i;;0 

Walker, Thomas, Jr 1 ;! 1 

Wallace, Cyrus \V 7S, 81, 87, 88, <j1, 92, i»4, <):), <*() 

!M), 100, 101, 102, 105, 11.-), 118, 119, 120 

Wallace, James 102 

Warrants :J2, 56 

Warren, Amory 97 

Watts, Daniel " (51, (ii), 71 . 75, 70, 120 

Watts, H. P 120, 121, 122 

Watts, Polly 75 

Webster, Daniel 104 

Webster, David 50, 5:5 

Webster, JNIaj. John 48 

Wentworth, Gov. Penning- ?A 

Weston, Amos, Jr .(>1, 09, 71 

Weston Farm 27 

Wheat, Dr. Nathaniel 115 

\Vheelwrig-ht, Pe v. John 11, 15, 20 

Whipple, Enoch 52 

Whitefield, George G2 

White, Pev. John 13 

Whiton, John ]M 72, 96 

AVhittemore, Jacob 71, 75 

Whittemore, Miss Sally 9;> 

Whittemore, Mrs. Robert P 95 

Whittemore, Robert P ?1, 93 

AVhittemore, William 72 

\Villey, ":Mr." , 92 

Winch. George 126, i:51 

\Vindham T^E) 

Wingate, Charles P i:;i 

Wood, Henry 72, 75. 78. 79. 

Young, Israel 50 

Young, James 5.'5 



iViAY <:d lyuf 



r^a. TO c 



^'^t^ 



.^^ 



